Skunk Fu Wolf's NYC Chronicles
by blaster702
Summary: A prequel to my other skunk fu fanfic. If you even remotely like my other story please read this one. I would really appreciate a review to.
1. Chapter 1

2 Months before the war.

Wolf stood alone in a large alleyway. He could smell the moisture in the air, yes, soon it would rain. He held his hand out to try and feel a rain drop. When suddenly he heard footsteps, approaching from the other side of the alley, a brown coyote emerged out of the shadows. He approached Wolf menacingly, a led pipe in his left hand and a balled up fist as his other. The coyote stopped inches away from his face, Wolf could feel his warm breath breathing on his face. Wolf crossed his arms and opened his mouth to speak.

"So you think you can do what you did and get away with it Dom?" Wolf spoke keeping his voice level for the moment.

"And who are you supposed to be huh, some tough guy that has a problem with how I run my business?" The coyote spat out while fluffing out his fur to make him look bigger than he actually was.

"Tanya is a close friend of my sisters; as far as I'm concerned you hurt part of my family. I don't like it when dipstick punks like you mess with my family."

A couple of street punks stepped out of the corner standing next to the coyote. They were obviously hired thugs.

"Classical bully aren't you Dom? Never handle anything without at least a couple friends to back you up." Wolf remarked with a snort.

"Unlike you I don't have to handle everything myself." The coyote said while backing up and pushing the two hired thugs toward Wolf.

"And neither does my little brother." Wolf heard a familiar voice from behind.

He looked over his shoulder to see his older brother approaching the soon to be battleground. Wolf let a smile spread on his face as his brother stood beside him cracking his knuckles.

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods big bro?" Wolf inquired.

"Well I couldn't let you have all the fun, now could I?" His brother returned the smile.

"So which one do you want to beat down?" Wolf asked while staring at the two thugs.

"Eh, I'll take the one on the right."

"Sounds fine to me,"

And with that the battle was on. Wolf had a small scuffle with his opponent. After a couple of punches and a few scratches the two fighters backed away from each other. Wolf could hear the much fiercer fighting between his brother and the other thug. He dare not take a look however, lest he put down his guard. The thug was breathing heavy now; Wolf had clipped him just above the eye, and gave him a good couple thumps to the chest. Wolf himself had a sore lip, funny how he hadn't noticed it until now.

The thug made one strong punch in Wolf's direction. Wolf quickly ducked underneath and swung as hard as possible, breaking the thug's nose when his fist connected. The man fell backwards gripping his nose and practically shouting in pain as he rolled on the ground. He looked back to see how his brother Josh was holding up. He had of course taken on the bigger of the two thugs. After a second brief tussle Josh had dispatched his enemy and was standing next to Wolf again.

"Had to show me up didn't you?" Wolf joked.

"What, you mean me fighting the big guy? You just don't look ready enough for someone his size." Josh jeered while poking him in the ribs.

"Yeah whatever, now we have to deal with Dom. Hey where'd the little punk go?" Wolf looked around trying to spot the little rat.

"He must have taken off during the fight," Josh saw the aggravated look on his brother's face. "Don't worry about it, he won't bother us again."

"He better not if he knows what's good for him," Wolf remarked menacingly. "So what should we do now?"

"Well it's getting late, suppose we should get back home before Rose starts to freak out again." Josh said while he stretched his left arm.

Josh ran over to a small two story apartment building and began to climb it. He scaled his way to the top with amazing strength and precision.

"Um what are you doing, if you don't mind me asking?" Wolf inquired as his brother reached the top of the building and pulled himself up.

"We'll get around a lot faster if we climb the roofs." Josh replied.

"Oh common, you know I don't like heights." Wolf complained in a whiny voice.

"Just get up here you big baby."

Swallowing the lump in his throat and reluctantly placing one foot after another, Wolf eventually made it to the top. He scrambled onto the rooftop and sat down, waiting for his heart to regain control of itself.

"See it isn't too bad up here. It's actually quite a nice view if you take a look." Josh stood next to the edge of the building, gazing out at the city, like he was in one of those super hero movies.

Wolf walked up next to him all the while completely avoiding looking down. In the distance and through the mist the lights of the city that never sleeps began to blink on one by one. Despite the factories billowing out smoke like dragons mustering up fire in their throats. Although Wolf knew that was a ridiculous simile, after all there was no such thing as dragons.

"Well, we better head home." Josh clapped Wolf on the back. "It's going to rain soon anyway." Josh turned to leave.

"I think I'll meet up with you later bro." Wolf said while gazing out at an open window that was a good three rooftops length away from where he was standing now.

"Oh come on, let Tanya get a full nights sleep." Josh said, knowing exactly what his brother was planning to do with his afternoon.

"There'll be plenty of time for that afterwards." Wolf began to jump across the rooftops moving for Tanya's open window, his fear of heights forgotten. He looked back to see his brother crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"I'm not waiting for you!" Josh called out.

"Then don't!" Wolf shouted back.

Wolf jumped into the window, the bedroom dimly lit by a small lamp on a nightstand. A female leopardess threw her arms around him and shoved her tongue in his mouth. After a few seconds she broke free.

"Well, I was wondering when you would pay me a visit Wolf. Did you take care of you know who?" The leopardess asked.

"Yeah he shouldn't be bothering you anymore Tanya." He held onto her with both hands and began kissing her neck. He smiled as he heard her giggle.

"He he, hey that tickles." She protested, although making no move to stop him.

She pulled him down onto the bed. They began to make out as they pulled off their clothes. Tanya let out a gasp as Wolf made a move to a rather sensitive area.

"Oh, a little anxious aren't we?" She said seductively.

Wolf smiled, "Oh yeah I am."


	2. Chapter 2

Wolf awoke to the obnoxious screeching of an alarm clock a few inches away from his head. The annoying buzzer was sitting on a small nightstand next to the queen sized bed he had spent the night in. Doing his best to clear away the grogginess sitting in his head like an oppressive cloud, he smacked his hand on top of the clock. The screech stopped in the middle of piercing his ear drums. He stretched his arms, his hand brushing up against someone's fur. He looked to his left to see Tanya lying on a pillow, propping herself up on her elbow while she looked at him with half open eyes.

"Well how are you doing beautiful?" Wolf inquired while gazing at her lean and muscular figure.

"Better, since last night anyway." The female leopard said while laying herself on top of him.

For a while they lay there, dozing on and off as the sun slowly made its way through the open window and into the room. Wolf felt Tanya shuffle around a little and ask him something, he could only catch a little bit of what she said.

"..Uhm…time would be nice." She mumbled quietly.

Wolf looked over to the small clock, the large red numbers reading 9:35 AM.

"It's about 9:35." Wolf said while laying his head back on the soft pillow, before sitting right back up with a start. He reached down and picked the clock up to look at it a little closer.

"Oh crap!" Wolf shouted while leaping off the bed, taking all the sheet and blankets with him.

"What, what are you freaking out about!?" Tanya said in surprise, not exactly sure what was happening.

"I'm an hour late, and Ben said if I was late one more time my ass was gone!" Wolf shouted while searching for his wallet and his other belongings.

"What do you mean 'gone', would you just tell me what the hell is wrong with you?"

"I have like fifteen minutes to get to work. Listen I'm sorry I have to leave but,"

"Uh Wolf…"

"I honestly wish I could stay but I can't lose this job." Wolf motioned for the window.

"Wolf"

"Now I'll see you later tonight, okay."

"WOLF!"

"What!?"

Tanya couldn't hold back a small chuckle as Wolf was obviously oblivious to his 'little' problem.

"It would probably be a good idea to put some pants on before you go."

Wolf looked downward, hoping the fur was blocking his blush from the piercing eyes of Tanya. Putting a hand over his 'area' he looked at Tanya, her lips took the shape of a smug smirk.

"Uh….yeah, some pants would certainly be nice. You wouldn't happen to know where they are. Would you?" Wolf said using a nervous smile to try and cover up his embarrassment.

Tanya giggled. "Yeah your jeans are sitting in the corner."

"Ah yes very good, very good indeed." Wolf said while practically running over to put on his undergarments. "How did you know where they were?" Wolf asked while quickly zipping up his jeans.

"I'm the one who pulled them off of you, idiot."

With one last awkward smile Wolf leapt out the window and sprinted down the street as fast as he could.

Wolf slowly opened the door which led to a small office inside of a vehicle repair station. He peeked inside, spotting a small bearded man, wearing a dark mahogany suit sitting behind an old worn down desk, while reading a sports illustrated magazine. Wolf hoped that if he snuck in quietly and avoided any form of eye contact, he just might have a chance to sneak in unnoticed. He slithered inside, like some kind of special ops soldier. He hugged the wall and crept around the desk. He was almost there, if he could just sneak into the back he could get to work and pretend like he had been here all day. Just one last step and,

"Well hello Wolf." Wolf heard his boss say while standing up away from his desk.

Wolf sighed and turned around, ready for his fifth scolding this week.

"Ah Ben, just who I needed to talk to to complete my day," Wolf shrugged his shoulders and immediately took a lazy yet surprisingly comfortable position.

"You have been late five times this week for god's sake!" Ben raised his voice, losing what little patience he had left for Wolf. "You are lucky you are the best mechanic I got or else you, would be fired and on the street!" Ben was crumpling the magazine in his left hand while he had his right index finger aimed at Wolf.

"Listen Ben, I have to pretend to be working, so if you could wrap this up? I would really appreciate it." Wolf said while pretending to look at his watch.

Ben's face practically turned red in flustered anger. He placed to finger on his chin and took a couple deep breaths, before continuing his rant.

"You are not going to 'pretend' to work today, like you do every day. Someone actually needed something fixed today. A Miss Winters, I believe was her name." Ben began to shove Wolf through the door to the repair area. "Now get in there and provide some service."

The door slammed behind Wolf, the knob hitting him in the spine on the way out. He heard his boss say something through the door.

"You're working overtime, without pay!" Wolf heard his boss shout through the door.

"I love you to Benjamin! You noisy prick!" Wolf shouted back.

He turned around.

"What?"

Squirrel sat quietly in a small chair, inside the dimly lit repair office. The sounds of an argument could be heard. She figured it had been the mechanic the man in the nice suit had been complaining about. She sighed as she heard the mechanic showed obvious disrespect for his superior. People in New York were always so rude and brudish, she didn't really know why either, maybe it was the air or the constant hustle and bustle of city life. Perhaps they were just naturally mean, she honestly didn't know. She had honestly never liked New Yorkers, not since the mysterious disappearance of her father. Who had adopted her several years ago.

Squirrel had recently treated her self to nice sports car she had seen in a used car depot a few hours ago. She hadn't realized she had been ripped off until she had gotten three blocks away and the car had suddenly stopped working. After some asking around she had learned the best mechanic worked in this exact place, even though it was in one of the slummier parts of town. The door suddenly opened and the mechanic was pushed inside the room. Her eyes grew wide; the mechanic was just like her. Not a Squirrel of course but of the same race perhaps.

"Love you to Benjamin, you noisy prick!" The mechanic yelled at his boss.

He turned to look at her, noticing her odd surprised face he asked.

"What, is something wrong?"

Squirrel didn't seem to hear him, awestruck she kept staring, was he another mutant like the ninja turtles. No, he was much too human looking. There was no doubt about it, they were much more alike then any valley animal was.

"Uh….helloooo, lady you okay?" Wolf waved a hand in Squirrel's face, trying to grasp her attention.

Squirrel snapped back into reality, suddenly aware of her surroundings.

"Oh, sorry yeah I'm perfectly fine. So are you, kind of like me?" She asked in an innocent, yet slightly embarrassed voice.

"Huh, what do you mean 'like you'?" Wolf inquired, slightly confused.

"Well, you know." Squirrel looked down, trying to avoid his quizzical gaze. "Like an animal, but like a human at the same time." She suddenly grew uncomfortable, though she wasn't sure why.

"Uh…yeah I guess so. I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that you aren't from around here. Are you?" Wolf asked kneeling down to her eye level.

"Well no, this is only my third week in New York as a matter of fact. I have just found a place to stay and well, I haven't seen many other people. And certainly not anyone like us."

"Yes well, many of 'us' as you like to put it don't get to live in the upper class. As a matter of fact you're probably the first rich furry in years." Wolf rubbed the back of his neck.

"Wait, how do you know I'm rich?"

"I watch the news, come on you were the first eleven year old to graduate from college. You can't honestly say that you didn't expect to be on the news?"

"Well I didn't think it was that big a deal."

"Well, were are you from anyway?" Wolf inquired, suddenly curious of this girl's origin.

"Me, well I live in a place called the Valley."

"The valley huh, where is that? I certainly haven't seen that on any maps before."

"It's around Asia but certainly very hard to find."

"So tell me, what's your whole story anyway?"

"Well I was dropped by the stork out in the middle of the valley during the storm. If it wasn't for my master I probably would have frozen to death." Squirrel began her story. Wolf listened intently through the entire thing. How she met her step father, her need to be kept secret from the other valley animals, and so on. After about midway through the story Wolf interrupted and sat up.

"Sorry, I would like to hear the rest of your story but if Ben catches me slacking off I'll be in big trouble." Wolf said while heading over to the broken down sports car. Perhaps once were done here we can go get some coffee and I'll hear the rest of your story, and fill in any questions you might have about our species. Sound like a deal?" Wolf said while popping the trunk on her sports car and began his work.

"Yeah that sounds like a deal." Squirrel sat down and waited for Wolf to finish work on her car. For once she had found somebody who was more like her than anyone she had met so far. And the fact that there were many more of their species was a comforting certainly a comforting thought.


	3. Cofee Shop

Wolf sat across from squirrel inside of a small and slightly vacant coffee shop. A warm cup of coffee steamed in his hands, he took a small sip, the liquid warming his body until it hit the bottom of his stomach. He sat quietly and listened to Squirrel as she explained the rest of her story, he gave the occasional nod to show that he was paying attention.

"And now I'm here. This is the last place I'm going to visit before I head home to the Valley." Squirrel said while she added a little sugar to her ice tea. She really wasn't in the mood for caffeine.

"The Valley huh, it certainly sounds beautiful. Yet you haven't ever spoken with its inhabitants?" Wolf asked.

"No, aside from my master and a few select others no one even remotely knew of my existence. Not that I don't wish I couldn't have fit in with the rest of them, I was to….different."

"Different, you mean like you…. should we say 'developed' differently?" Wolf leaned back in his seat in an attempt to get more comfortable.

"I think 'developed'," Squirrel used her fingers to imitate quotation marks before she continued talking. "Is probably the best word you could use to explain it. Aside from the few 'obvious' details," Squirrel motioned toward her chest area, "I also grew hair on my head and was much more connected with the modern world than any one else was."

"I see, so your master sent you out into the world so you could find yourself. Very interesting, anyway I'm sure you have some questions."

"Yes I guess I do." Squirrel thought for a moment. "Why don't you tell me some things about our history?"

"My minds kinda fuzzy on the whole story there but I can tell you we don't know very much about where we came from. I've heard theories about every possibility ever thought up before. Things like aliens from a different planet, to animal mutation. The most logical explanation that I've heard of was probably natural evolution. Though there are several holes in that theory as well. Humans are basically evolved from apes right? Well if we were following the same evolutionary ladder why didn't we lose our fur and evolve different features as well, it just doesn't make much sense."

"Maybe that's something I should look into." Squirrel said thoughtfully, more to herself than anyone else. "Can you tell me something about reproduction?"

Wolf choked on his coffee, he started to cough.

"Oh sorry, you don't have to answer if the question makes you uncomfortable." Squirrel stated noticing his reaction.

"No, no….ahem," Wolf cleared his throat. "That is something I've read up on for sure. Well….for one if two different types of animal species mate theirs a large chance the child will be its mothers species. Though the child will inherit the father's eye color and other certain features, our species also has no sexually transmitted diseases so long as there's no interspecies interaction." Wolf finished, hoping that was enough to end the awkward conversation.

There were a few more questions and the two finished off their coffee.

"Well I should be getting back, I'm sure my friends are getting worried." Squirrel stood up to leave.

"Who are your friends anyway?" Wolf asked out of plain curiosity.

The question caught Squirrel off guard; she searched his facial expression for any sign of harm, yet picked up nothing. He'd proved himself friendly enough; he didn't seem to want to cause any harm.

"Why don't I just take you to them?" Squirrel offered.

"I suppose you could do that, I don't have anything better to do." Wolf downed the last of his coffee before following Squirrel out of the coffee shop.

Wolf and Squirrel walked along the street as cars sped by and people moved around chatting on their cell phones. Wolf and Squirrel engaged in some small talk as they went along.

"It's a longer walk then I thought, and cold too." Squirrel said while shivering and clutching her jacket around her.

"Yeah, sorry I couldn't give your car back, repair station has a one day limit to test the vehicle and make sure we have fixed everything. The cold must be a big deal huh?" Wolf replied seemingly oblivious to the freezing wind.

"I don't get it, you don't seem to feel the cold at all, and you aren't even wearing a jacket."

"Yeah, I guess my winter fur coat is doing its job."

"I forgot that wolfs change their fur coats depending on the weather."

"Yeah tends to come in handy, despite the shedding. Tanya's always angry at me about that." They turned into an alleyway.

"Tanya, who's that?"

"Tanya's a 'personal' friend if you catch my meaning."

"Oh, yeah I get it. Are you two close?"

"I can honestly say that I'm not sure. I would like to think so but, well….I occasionally see her with other guys. We said we wouldn't get to serious but I figured by now we would be changing that. What about you, anyone special in your life." Wolf asked desperate to get off the subject.

Squirrel thought about Donnatello, a certain ninja turtle she had recently been smitten by.

"Well there's a guy I like." Squirrel blushed a little. "But I don't think he's very interested in me."

"I see…"

Wolf and Squirrel came to a stop at what seemed to be the end of a long alley with a dead end.

"We should wait here until they get back, they probably won't like it if I show their hideout to a complete stranger. If you don't mind of course," Squirrel said leaning up against the cool bricks of one of the buildings that incased the alley in a long corridor of cement.

"Oh I don't mind at,"

"Woo! Would you look at these two?" A voice cut him off.

Wolf turned around, seeing a group of guys emerge from around the corner. Wearing ski masks and thick jackets, Wolf counted three.

"She sure is pretty hey bud why don't you just hand over your wallet and get out of here so we can have some fun with that babe over there, and so you don't get hurt." The lead guy said.

"I'm sorry but the way I see it that wouldn't be the smart thing to do for either of us. Now two things can happen here, one you turn around and walk away then I won't have to break any of your bones. Or you can keep pestering us and I will break your bones. So make your choice." Wolf threatened.

"Wolf maybe we should just go." Squirrel said, hoping that things wouldn't get violent. "I have some money, maybe we could just give them that and they'll go away."

"Oh no sweet thing, we want much more than money from you." The man on the right said while moving towards Squirrel.

Wolf stepped in front of him and with lightning speed his fist connected with the man's face. The man fell down, knocked out cold.

Wolf ducked a roundhouse and struck his second attacker in the ribs, using just enough force to bruise them instead of break them. The man keeled over the oxygen knocked out of his lungs, Wolf brought an elbow down on the back of his head. Wolf saw the third man come charging after him, tackling him and throwing him to the ground. Wolf felt the man clasp his fingers around Wolf's throat. The air was forced out of his lungs as the man pressed his body weight on top of Wolf. He delivered as many punches to the stomach as he could but the man didn't even flinch. Wolf heard a loud crack as the man's weight seemed to disappear.

Wolf felt the air flow back into his lungs; he looked around to see Squirrel get thrown to the ground by the man. Squirrel dropped her bow staff as she hit the ground. She stared up at the man; he pulled out a small knife. Sneering as he approached her menacingly, Wolf ran towards him. The man veered around and jabbed the knife at Wolf. Wolf dodged to the left and gripped the man's arm, driving his open palm upwards breaking the man's elbow. Wolf positioned his foot underneath his attacker and using all his might he tossed the man over his shoulder, and onto the cement, he gave him one last punch to the face to knock him unconscious.

Wolf ran over to Squirrel and lifted her up.

"You okay?" Wolf asked.

"A few scratches and bumps, but that's about it."

"What about you?"

"Nothing worse than the average days beating, thanks for saving my fur back there."

"Glad I could help. Is it always so dangerous around here or, Donnie don't!" Squirrel seemed to shout randomly.

Wolf raised an eyebrow and turned around, not nearly quick enough however. Wolf heard a large THWAK! As blinding pain shot through his head, his vision blurred as he attempted to put up his guard. A foot smacked into his chest sending him flying backwards into the wall, and then he saw no more.


	4. The Turtle

Wolf awoke to a searing migraine that felt as if it was tearing through his skull with extreme ferocity. He could feel a soft cushion supporting his head. Despite the desire to close his eyes and go back to sleep he forced himself to sit up. He looked around trying to get a sense of where he was. The smell of stale pizza was floating through the air, and he could make out a few blurry shapes here and there. He heard a soft yet familiar voice talking and approaching. He couldn't quite make it out but he figured he knew who it was.

"Wolf, are you okay? How are you feeling" Squirrel asked curiously as she sat on a stool next to him.

Wolf sat hunched over, rubbing the back of his head as it throbbed in pain.

"Ugh…I feel like it's the morning after I met Tanya." He shook his head and looked at her. "Where are we?"

"You are in the hideout of the famous ninja turtles." A voice sounded behind him.

Wolf looked behind him to see a large turtle standing behind him, he was wearing a purple mask.

"Ninja turtles huh, well 'this' certainly completes my day." Wolf said, more to himself than anybody else in the room.

The turtle walked over and stood next to Squirrel. "That's right. My name is Donnatello Hamato. Normally I wouldn't have brought you in here. But you're a friend of Squirrel so you must be a good guy."

Donnatello extended his hand in greeting; Wolf took it and shook it.

"Nice to meet you to, so were you the guy who knocked me on the head,?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah…sorry about that, I heard the fight on my way back, when I saw you standing in front of Squirrel I kinda lost it."

"Don't worry about it man, you thought I was threatening your girl and just tried to defend her. I understand just fine." Wolf said with a shrug.

"No wait, Squirrel and I aren't together. Yet or, I mean….boy is it getting hot in here?" Donnie spit out the words like a machinegun being fired on full auto. He cast a sideways glance at Squirrel hoping she didn't notice his blush.

She averted her own gaze as he looked down at her. Wolf noticed a small grin that only he could notice.

"Anyways, aren't there more of you turtle guys?" Wolf asked trying to change the subject for them.

"Oh, you mean my brothers? Yeah, they're just out getting some pizza right now."

"I swear, you guys are addicted to that stuff." Squirrel giggled out loud.

"Yeah, Mikey is, that's a fact." Donnie replied, his blush finally fading

"Well this is a nice place you have here and all. But I need to get back home before my sister finds me and castrates me or something." Wolf stood up to go but nearly fell over as he began to feel light headed.

"Whoa easy, you got hit pretty hard. Maybe you should just take it easy." Squirrel said while getting up while she draped his arm around her shoulder to help support his weight.

Wolf shook his head in protest. "Cant, been gone for one whole night all ready, Rose is probably worried sick."

"Well at least let me take you home. You're in no condition to be wondering the sewers like this."

Wolf just shook his head, to tired to protest.

Wolf and Squirrel sat in the cherry red sports car as they drove down to Wolf's apartment.

"So Wolf, tell me about you're family." Squirrel said while rearranging her rearview mirror.

"Well, my brothers kind of pensive. Always has a lot on his mind."

"Can he fight as well as you?" Squirrel asked, her mind flashed back a few hours ago when Wolf had bravely fought off a couple of shady characters that had jumped them in the alley.

"Oh yeah, better even, he knows how to use a gun to. And no he's never shot anyone. My sister's the youngest, though you would think I am considering how much she bosses me around."

"What about your parents?" Squirrel asked, though the moment she said it she wished she hadn't.

Wolf didn't hesitate; he was used to the question. "Murdered,"

"Oh Wolf I'm sorry, I know what it's like to lose a loved one." Squirrel tried to sympathies.

"Maybe, but you weren't actually there when you're father died. I saw everything when my mother was murdered. Though I can't remember much, I couldn't have been more than three or four."

"Oh Wolf, can you remember anything at all?"

Wolf hesitated for a moment, he recounted that one detail. The detail that haunted his dreams since that terrible night,

"I'll never forget his eyes, pure red, filled with evil. I'll find him one day, and when I do,"

Squirrel noticed he hadn't mentioned his father at all, and due to her natural desire to figure everything out she wanted to ask him. Though her better nature decided not to press him any further.

Wolf and Squirrel stood outside of a small wooden door in a slightly run down, though not unlivable apartment building. Wolf fumbled for the keys in his pocket; he yanked them out and placed one of the steel shapes into the lock. The door unlocked with a click.

"Well Squirrel, welcome to my humble abode."


	5. siblings and awkward moments

Wolf slowly opened the door to his apartment. Squirrel was following close behind, doing her best to peek over his shoulder and see inside. She noticed that he seemed rather cautious about going inside, despite the fact that it was his home. He quietly slunk inside, allowing Squirrel to get a good look. The apartment was rather simplistic, a couch and coffee table were in the middle of the room. Obviously a living room, which to the right there was a kitchen with an old stove, stained from several meals being cooked and poorly timed as to when they should have been removed before they burnt.

A few generic paintings were hung from the wall, Such as plants and random sunsets. Needless to say the apartment was far from impressive. Though she couldn't really say anything about it, after all she had just spent the last month or so in a sewer. Suddenly Wolf made a sudden duck that was immediately fallowed by a loud crash. Bewildered Squirrel looked to see what was happening; there were shards of glass spread out in shards on the ground. Wolf was looking around bewildered as if any moment he was going to be assaulted again. A young girl, another wolf stalked out of the shadows. She was wearing a rather showy tank top and baggy jeans with holes in the knees, along with a red bandanna she had wrapped around her head. Despite a rather obvious height difference Squirrel guessed this was Wolf's younger sister Rose that he had mentioned earlier.

Rose came dashing at him with her fists swinging wildly. Wolf simply stretched out his arm and placed it on her head, holding her just out of reach.

"So, what are you trying to beat me up for this time?" Wolf asked with a sigh, obviously having done this before.

Rose didn't stop swinging her fists as she shouted at her brother.

"I had been waiting for hours for you and Josh to get home. Alone! I might add what if Dom had shown up huh. You know what he's like. But NOOO you had to go and play tidily winks with Tanya for the night."

Wolf looked back at Squirrel and rolled his eyes as Rose went off on her little temper tantrum. Squirrel couldn't help but laugh at the two, and found herself wondering if they were always acting like this.

"Hey would it help if I let you hit me once?" Wolf offered, not aware of how much he was going to regret asking her this in a few moments.

Rose let her arms go limp and gave him a piercing glare.

"Anywhere I want?"

"Sure, just hurry up."

Wolf let go of his sister's head and stood. Leaving his body open for Rose to pick her spot, Rose waived her fist and scanned her brother up and down. When Squirrel noticed Rose get a large smirk, she could almost picture the little light bulb appear above her head. She pulled back her fist but instead brought up her knee and struck her brother with crushing force in his groin. Wolf felt the air leave his lungs as he stumbled to the ground. Moaning and laughing off the pain at the same time.

"Aw, low blow man," Wolf choked out.

Rose dusted off her hands and looked down at him rather smugly, "serves you right."

Rose looked over to Squirrel and extended her hand in greeting.

"Hi, I'm Rose."

Squirrel shook the young girl's hand. "Hi I'm Squirrel, a friend of you're brothers."

Wolf was back on his feet again, shaking off the pain as best he could.

"Wow Rose, talk about a low blow." He chuckled a little. "Looks like you're learning well."

"Only from the best big brother," Rose replied.

"Wolf are you okay?" Squirrel asked concerned.

"Oh yeah I'm fine, might have ruined my chance of ever having kids but nothing worse than the usual days beating."

"Where's Josh at Rose? I figured he'd be wailing on me too after I left him in the rain."

Rose went and sat on the couch resting her feet on the small coffee table. "As much as he wanted too he had to work. Someone in this dysfunctional thing we call a family has to."

"Hey I work, just not very often….or hard."

"Yeah, my point exactly, anyways I was thinking we should go and pay him a visit. I managed to secure his all access pass while he was in the shower."

"All right, sounds like a plan. Speaking of showers I better get cleaned up. Rose would you mind keeping Squirrel some company?"

Rose looked Squirrel up and down and smiled before she spoke. "No of course not," she pat the spot on the couch next to where she sat, indicating for Squirrel to sit down.

"And don't try anything!" Wolf shouted back as he made his way down the hall and into the bathroom.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rose replied coolly.

Squirrel wondered what Wolf meant by that.

"So Squirrel, tell me how you met my nut job of a brother." Rose said as Squirrel took a seat. "Did you meet in a bar? Or did he beat up some guys for you? That's how he meets most of his dates anyway."

"Date!?" Squirrel echoed. "No were not going out." Squirrel played with her fingers trying to hide her embarrassment. "He's a nice guy and all but we just met and well," her voice trailed off as she realized she was rambling.

"Whoa just calm down there goldilocks, I suppose he has to meet some girl out there who he hasn't tried to get his hands all over yet."

"What about you Rose, any boyfriends?" Squirrel asked eager to get off the subject.

"Nope no boyfriends for me. I have my fair share of girlfriends though." Rose replied smugly.

"Girlfriends…wait a minute you're a," Squirrel began in a surprised tone.

"Yep, I'm one hundred percent lesbian, not afraid to admit it either." Rose replied with a sly grin. "Don't worry though, you're not my type."

"Okay then," _"talk about an awkward moment."_ Squirrel thought to herself. She suddenly wished Wolf would hurry up and get out here to crack a joke or something and help her forget this entire conversation.


	6. Flux

Wolf stepped out of the shower and onto the small bathroom mat. The steam clung to the air as he reached for a small red towel hanging on a rack to his left. Still dripping wet he began to dry himself, he walked over to the mirror and wiped the moisture off of it. Wrapping the towel around his waist he reached for his toothbrush. As he did the routine two minute brushing on his teeth he felt a sharp sting of pain as the bristles on his toothbrush passed over a damaged tooth. Wolf figured he must have chipped it in one of his numerous fights this week. Sometimes he wondered if he was a "dumb fu*k" magnet as his sister so eloquently put it. After grabbing a new set of clothes he left his room to check on Squirrel and Rose.

Squirrel sat quietly on the couch waiting for Wolf to get out of the shower. Rose was pacing around in the kitchen talking on her little pink cell phone. From some of the things Rose was saying she figured it must be her girlfriend. Squirrel was still having trouble grasping the fact that Rose was a lesbian, she certainly had no problem with the fact but being a girl herself meant their conversations were a whole new kind of awkward.

"Yeah, no he's here. Wolf's taking a shower and then we'll go. Yeah he brought a friend with him." Rose stopped talking for a minute as she reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a coke. "No there wont be a problem. I took Josh's pass while he got ready to go." She took a drink out of the bottle. Rose held the bottle out at Squirrel to see if she wanted any. Squirrel shook her head no, not really thirsty at the moment. "No, I promise….well I could rent a room and we could have a little fun then." A devilish smile crossed Rose's lips before she spoke again. "Ooh could you make do on that promise. Can I? That's a stupid question…after all you of all people should know how 'skilled' I can be with my fingers. All right see you in a bit."

Rose shut off her phone and leaned against the counter, occasionally taking a quick drink from her bottle of pop. _Add another notch to the awkward meter._ Squirrel thought to herself. She suddenly couldn't wait to get out of here. Then, as if on cue Wolf walked out of the hallway and into the living room. _Finally!_ Squirrel practically jumped off of the couch.

"Are we ready to go?" Wolf asked in a cheery tone.

"Yeah, let's get a move on." Rose responded eager to get on the road.

Around twenty minutes later they were standing outside of a large club just on the outskirts of Coney Island. It was beginning to get late and the sun had gone down about an hour ago. A few stars had just started twinkling into view in the night sky. As Squirrel stepped out of her car and stood outside the large building she figured it must have been a fairly popular place. A large line of patrons stood outside the building, barred by a rather large man standing in front of them and guarding the door. On top of the building was a large neon sign shining bright blue with the words Flux written in fancy lettering. Wolf stepped out of the car and stood next to Squirrel with his hands in his pockets. Rose practically jumped out afterward and flung her arms around both of them.

"Well let's get going you two."

Together the trio approached the club, passing right by all the people waiting in line. Much to their protest, Wolf thought he might actually have to hit someone to get them to back off. Once Rose flashed her card to the bouncer they stepped right in. Though the bouncer held on to Wolf to tell him some important advice,

"Just a quick warning, a fight starts from nine to ten thirty and we'll interfere. Anything past that and feel free to defend yourself." The man said with his husky voice.

Shortly after Squirrel was standing within a throng of dancing people. The sound of the music and shouts of the people was almost deafening. She felt lost in the group of dancing people until a strong hand grasped her wrist. Dragging her away from the overwhelming group of people, the person was none other than Wolf; she tried talking to him but couldn't even hear herself due to the unnecessarily loud music. He pushed open a large door near the back of the club and pushed Squirrel through. The music grew faint as Wolf shut the door and turned to face her.

"Sorry about that, Rose and I kind of just left you in the free access area."

"That's okay," Squirrel said finally able to collect her thoughts. "You think I would be used to huge crowds with being famous and all. Where are we anyway?" Squirrel asked taking a look around. A large piece of ten inch thick glass muted the music of the front room. Though the bass seemed to be vibrating the glass, the flashing lights could still be seen through the glass causing a multitude of blues, greens, and reds to light up the area.

"This is the VIP section, no dancing just some faint music and a bar. My brothers a bartender here, come on I'll take you to meet him."

Wolf led Squirrel over to the bar where she spotted another wolf sitting behind the counter mixing drinks rather quickly. Once they were in earshot Wolf announced their presence.

"Yo Josh! What's up my brother!?" Wolf shouted.

Josh looked up from his drinks and waved them over.

"What the hell are you guys doing here?" Josh was more surprised than angry. "Wait let me guess; Rose took my pass didn't she?"

Wolf nodded in response.

"That girl gets sneakier and sneakier every day. Anyways who's this nice young lady?"

"Hi there, my names Squirrel. You're brother and I met recently." Squirrel answered while shaking Josh's hand.

"And he's already got you waltzing around clubs huh? That's my brother for you." Josh clapped his brother on the shoulder.

"Yeah yeah, anyway where did Rose run off to?"

Josh rolled his eyes. "She's in the booth over there smacking lips with Lucy."

And indeed she was as Squirrel noticed in a second. The two girls sat together in a booth behind a group of rather rowdy soldiers. More than likely on shore leave. Lucy was wrapped in the arms of Rose. For the most part Lucy was a rather good looking individual, her hair was long and brunette colored. Wrapped into a ponytail, her cherry red lips were moving up the neck of Rose. Her green eyes locked with Rose's before they kissed again.

"Yeah, now there's some real action boys!" One of the soldiers said while eyeing the two girls. The rest of the soldiers started laughing at this, (more than likely already drunk on whiskey and other forms of alcohol.)

Wolf bristled at the comment and balled up his fist. He felt his brother's hand on his shoulder.

"Hey relax, don't start anything. It's eleven so the bouncers can't give you any help."

At this he relaxed a little but kept his eyes on the group. Soon one of the soldiers stood up and went over to their table.

"Can we help you?" Lucy asked, annoyed at the interference.

"Damn right you can sweetheart." The man said his breath reeking of alcohol.

Suddenly the man grabbed Lucy by the hair and pulled her up to his level. Rose was given a quick backhand as she tried to stand up and defend her lover.

Squirrel's heart skipped a beat as Wolf started toward the man. Grabbing a pool stick from a man getting ready to take his shot, approaching the man he swung the pool stick as hard as he could and broke the stick over his head. At this the three other men sitting at the table stood up and marched toward Wolf. Wolf struck first however and his fist collided with the first and tallest man's nose. The second man rushed as fast as he could and using amazing strength picked Wolf up by the shirt and tossed him across the bar. Slamming into a couple of glass tables, shattering them into pieces and gashing his arm on the glass, Wolf doing his best to get his balance stood up as fast as he could. As soon as Wolf was on his feet another man had him by the arms, leaving him open! Taking advantage of this the soldier Wolf hit with the pool stick lashed out striking him repeatedly in the ribs. After four punches Wolf had had enough. Using all his strength he pulled himself up and lashed out with his legs. Hitting the soldier in the face sending him spiraling backward, the attacker holding him was given a strong head butt. Dropping Wolf to the ground he clutched his nose. Spinning around with shocking speed Wolf kick with brutal force at the man's knee falling down and clutching his now shattered bone Wolf gripped his bald head. Wolf drove his knee into the mans face several times, drawing a large amount of blood in doing so finished his attacker off with one last kick sending the man flying into the bar and right in front of Squirrel.

She let out a gasp and had to stifle a gag as the man rolled on the ground in extreme pain and coughing up his own blood. Her eyes veered over to Rose who was now clutching at Lucy. Watching helplessly as her brother tried in vain to hold off the two much bigger and much stronger soldiers that were now on him.

Wolf despite the fact the two soldiers in front of him were extremely intoxicated and could barely stand there was no doubting their strength. And to add to the problems Wolf was getting tired and his own cuts were beginning to bleed profusely. Wolf felt another hot sting of pain as the larger of the two soldiers slammed his meaty fist into the left side of his face. Putting up his guard he tried to fend off the two men's blows (to no avail). One of them grabbed him by the throat and hit him repeatedly in the face and stomach. The soldier slammed Wolf onto the bar and started hitting him with such force you think it would have shattered the poor boy's neck. Suddenly Wolf reached for the thickest bottle he could find and slammed it against the man's head, creating a long jagged gash on his fore head.

Staggering to his feet he reached for a bar stool and hammered on the man with it. Wolf hit him at least nine times before it finally shattered.

Wolf was barely aware of anything anymore. The faint shouts and screams of the patrons in the bar were all strangely foreign to him. His vision was blurry, his eyes swollen from several nasty hits to the face. He felt himself get slammed into the glass wall separating the VIP section and the free section. He could hear it crack as his head was slammed into it by his assailant. He could feel himself begin to lose consciousness. Right before he blacked he heard a man's voice. Strong and obedient, little did he know within a few months time this voice would be as familiar to him as his own heartbeat.

"Put the boy down Jenkins!" Commanded the man,"

Wolf could feel the grip on his shoulders loosening as he slumped to the ground. He could see a group of figures standing around him, they were familiar yet…. Due to multiple blows to his head he couldn't place any of them. One of them spoke, her hair golden and her voice soft and kind as she placed her hands on his face and felt his wounds.

"Wolf let's get you out of here."


	7. Rest

Squirrel gazed down at Wolf's bloody and beaten body. For a minute she thought he was dead. There was a long silence as Josh, Rose with Lucy at her side, and Squirrel hovered over him. Watching for the slightest bit of movement, Rose was close to tears as she watched her brother lying hopelessly on the floor. Squirrel when…his hand twitched, she swore her heart stopped for a moment.

"Come on Wolf…wake up." Squirrel said aloud.

He opened his right eye, the only one of the two that hadn't been so badly beaten that he could actually open it; he looked up at everyone and smiled.

"So, did I win?" Wolf said with a croaky voice.

Josh began to smile at first. Then he practically burst out laughing.

"No…you didn't. But you kicked some serious ass though!" Josh said as he helped Wolf to his feet.

"Yes you did. Those were four of my best men. The fact you could even handle three is pretty damn impressive son." Wolf heard an old throaty voice say.

Wolf looked toward the direction of the voice. From the blurry image his brain was capable of comprehending he looked like an army general. He wore a desert camo jacket with several metals clasped onto it. He had a scar stretching down his face from his eye to his lip. It seemed to fit well with the man's grizzled appearance, years of battle and conflict making him look a lot older than he actually was, a stark twenty-seven though he seemed in his late thirties. He pulled a cigar out of his pocket and lit it with a shining lighter.

"I think you'll all be happy to know that I'm giving them two weeks of incarceration before they'll be allowed back into the field. Now why don't you get that boy home before he passes out."

"All right come on brother. Let's get you home to rest." Rose said as both she and Lucy wrapped Wolf's arms around their shoulders and began helping him out the door.

"If by rest you mean sitting in bed with some Coke, a wee bit of popcorn, and my Xbox then hell yeah." Wolf replied with a small chuckle, laughing off his pain.

Josh and Squirrel turned to leave.

"Hey you, mind staying here a moment?" The general said.

Squirrel looked behind her to see the general was speaking to Josh.

"Sure I guess." Josh replied as he went to talk with the man.

As Squirrel walked out of the door she could hear the general say one thing.

"I've seen you down at the range. You know I think you and your brother…"

Squirrel sat on the couch in Wolf's small apartment. Rose had made some dinner for her which she had gladly eaten. It was far from gourmet but it did the job. She heard the door to Rose's room open. Rose and Lucy walked hand in hand into the living room. Rose walked into the kitchen and grabbed something to drink.

"So how did you like Rose's cooking Squirrel?" Lucy asked. "That is if you aren't throwing it up already." She joked with a small and innocent giggle.

Rose gave a gentle kick to Lucy's behind. Causing a surprised yelp to escape from her throat,

"Wow Rose, at least wait until we get to the hotel." Lucy said while grasping Rose by the waist.

She let out a quiet growl in response. Showing she was obviously interested in the idea.

"Then what are we waiting for. Wolf I'm barrowing your bike!" Rose shouted to her brother.

"If it has a single scratch I'm going to strangle you both while you sleep!" Wolf shouted back from down the hallway in mock anger.

Rose turned to Squirrel. "Look after my brother while I'm gone 'kay."

"Yeah sure, have a good time." Squirrel replied with a wave as the two girls rushed out of the room. Squirrel could hear them giggling all the way down the hall.

Squirrel decided to check the news before she went to see what Wolf was doing. The remote made a click as she pressed the small red power button. The screen flashed onto a blonde news reporter in a large jacket to compensate for the low temperature. She was standing outside of a convenience store surrounded by police. The chief was in the middle of interviewing an older Asian man, more than likely the owner of the small establishment.

"I'm standing outside of the late night corner store known as Chang's Goods and Supplies. Not nearly fifteen minutes ago this lovely little establishment was robbed at gunpoint. However as soon as the robbery started it was brought to an abrupt stop by an unknown hero." A clip from the security footage was being rolled on the screen while the reporter spoke. "As you can see here the assailant was disarmed and knocked unconscious by a figure seen holding what seems to be a long staff of some kind. And just as soon as he appeared he was gone. Whoever you are we thank you. This is Denice Martinez signing off."

Squirrel smiled to herself, she recognized the figure with ease. Her own Donnatello Hamato had rescued that poor shop owner. She wondered where he was now, she hadn't seen him practically all night and she hoped he wasn't worried.

Turning off the television and getting off of the couch. She approached the door to Wolf's room. Cracking the door open she peeked inside. Wolf was lying on his bed sprawled out across it. An ice pack rested on his left eye, he was cleaned up a bit. Not covered in blood any more, the swelling in his eyes had gone down enough for him to see near his full potential. It was rather strange, Squirrel hadn't seen anyone heal quite that fast. For a few minutes she thought he might be asleep, when he rolled over with a grunt. His eyes caught on a picture frame on his night stand.

Forcing himself to get up he reached out for the picture, gently lifting it in his hands he held it lovingly. Squirrel slipped in through the door and sat next to him. She peeked over his shoulder to see a picture of a beautiful female Wolf with long brown hair holding her baby son in a park. Her son, the young boy couldn't have been any older than two. The woman was looking at her son with a tender gaze and smile. Brushing away a strand of hair on his face as he giggled,

"She's beautiful." Squirrel told him quietly

He didn't look at her; he just held the picture quietly as the memories brought him back to that one terrible moment. The shouting, the running, the banging, and the tears, he could still hear that blood curdling scream that haunted his every dream.

"She's my mother. It's the only picture I still have of her." Wolf could feel the emotions begin to well up within him.

"That's you in the picture isn't it?" Squirrel asked, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, do you want to know what the sad part is? I don't even know what her name is." Wolf finished sadly before placing the picture back on his night stand.

Squirrel grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him towards her.

"Wolf, so long as you remember her all she needs to be called is mother. Okay?" Squirrel whispered to him silently while she leaned into him.

Wolf hadn't realized how close she was getting until she place a hand on his chest.

"Squirrel…I." Wolf began nervously.

"Shh," she hushed him softly.

For a minute they both hovered there until…her cherry red lips connected with his.


	8. Burning

Josh stood directly in front of the grizzled man he'd met just ten minutes ago. He took a quick puff out of his cigar and let out the fumes. Not seeming to notice, or care that it flew directly back into Josh's face.

"I noticed you down at the range. You hold that gun of yours like it was built into you."

"Well…yeah I practice a lot. It calms me down." Josh explained calmly.

"Yes, you also managed to complete their most difficult obstacle course in under eighteen seconds. Right?"

"Yeah, listen sir,"

"Call me Kennedy."

Josh sighed. "Okay…Kennedy, I fail too see where your going with this." Josh said, getting slightly cross as Kennedy began taking up Josh's valuable time. Time which he could be using to get the bar back to presentable shape before his boss found and fired him.

"Well," Kennedy took another puff from his cigar. "I think that you would make quite the exceptional soldier. And that brother of yours, holy shit can he fight! Pardon my French, but if you two were to enlist?"

"Now hold on there. There are two reasons that neither of us can enlist. A, my brother is only sixteen. And B there's no way I could make enough money for Rose to make it on her own while Wolf and I are off getting shot at. I think were done here." Josh finished as he began to walk off.

"What if…I could pay you both ten times as much as any average grunt makes? And as for your brothers age, well I could take care of that."

Now this stopped Josh midstep. He turned back to Kennedy with a quizzical look on his face.

"You could do that?"

"Let's just say I have friends pretty high up on the chain. So will you do it?" Kennedy asked with a smile.

Josh just stood there for a moment, his feet feeling rooted to the ground. Could he endanger both he and his brother for money? But god was it a whole lot.

"I don't know. I'll have to think on it." Josh said.

The general put out his cigar and walked up to Josh holding a small card. "I understand boy, but trust me when I say it would be in your best interest to join up with me. Call me when you decide." The man began to walk away.

Josh looked down thoughtfully at the card. Maybe watching some television would help him think.

Rose and Lucy walked hand in hand to the front desk of the hotel. A group of red couches sat in the corner in front of a fake although rather convincing fireplace. Their footsteps echoing throughout the building, they both approached the front desk and rang the small bell. A darker skinned man appeared from the back room and greeted them both with a smile. He was quite clearly foreign, more than likely born in the Middle East. It showed in how he spoke as well, English clearly not being his first language.

"Ah, Rose and Lucy, here to spend night again?" He asked while pulling out a small notebook and a pair of keys.

"Yep, did you save our special room?" Rose asked with a smile.

He nodded in reply. "Is what you pay me for? No?" He marked their names down and handed them a pair of keys.

They both practically sprinted up the stairs. Rose stopped when the front deskman called out her name,

"Rose, do try and keep the noise down. I get five noise complaints last time."

"We'll certainly try Javier." Rose replied while running back up the stairs.

By the time Rose entered the room Lucy was already laying on the bed in an attractive pose. Rose locked the door behind her and stuck the do not disturb sign on the outside of the door. Tonight was going to be quite the workout.

Squirrel sat on the edge of the bed in Wolf's room. She still had her lips pressed against his. She hadn't noticed him gently pushing her away until she was suddenly aware of the feeling of Wolf's lips no longer there.

"Squirrel…I can't do this." Wolf replied quietly, looking away from Squirrel.

"What….is it something I said?" Squirrel asked in a tiny voice.

"No it's just…I'm kind of seeing someone."

The memories rushed back to Squirrel. She remembered him casually mention a girl before, now she felt like a complete fool.

"Oh! Wolf I'm so sorry I completely forgot. I shouldn't have done it in the first place. I mean we have only known each other for a day now and. I was just compelled by the moment." She ended her small rambling and looked down at the ground sadly. "I just thought maybe if we got to know each other a little bit."

Wolf held her face in his hands; she looked up to see his face was filled with pity, remorse, and sadness.

"I really wish we could Squirrel, I honestly do. But I just don't think it's meant to be. Who knows, maybe there is someone out there for the both of us."

"Yeah, maybe there is." Squirrel caught herself thinking of a certain turtle that she had some very strong feelings toward. She saw Wolf smiling as she let her mind wander off. She hadn't told him of her feelings, but somehow Squirrel figured he knew. "I hope you find someone too." She told him, gently hugging him before standing up to leave. "I think I'll head home now, Donnie's probably worried sick about me. I really hope we'll meet again." Squirrel told him while buttoning on her jacket.

"Something tells me we will, who knows maybe I'll visit this valley of yours one of these days." He told her before she made her way out of the small apartment.

Wolf stood up to go and get something to drink. Only to open the refrigerator to find out Rose had stolen all of his soda.

Wolf sighed. "Looks like I'm paying a small visit to the convenience store." Shoving his cell phone in his back pocket he set out on the road.

"That little prick thinks he can make a fool out of me huh?" Dominick stood in the back alley of the hotel Rose and Lucy had rented a room in. He was accompanied by three other rather shady looking thugs. "We'll see how clever that piss ant thinks he is when his slut of a sister's nothing but a pile of ash."

In his left hand he held a lighter, and in his right a bottle with a rag stuffed inside. Lighting the bottle he threw it through one of the back windows. The two other thugs lit theirs as well and, cackling wildly lit the whole building in flames.

Rose and Lucy rested in each others arms, tired from their recent activities. Lucy leaned over and kissed Rose on the forehead.

"I'm going to go and get some wine." She whispered softly into her ear.

"Kay, wake me up when you get back." Rose replied while shifting on to her side and shutting her eyes.

Lucy put on a pink robe and slippers then went down to the lobby. Rose was so dazed and weary she didn't even notice the faint smell of smoke that began to make its way into her room…

Wolf put a twenty dollar bill on the counter in front of the teenage boy working the cash register. He was dressed like a complete idiot, like on of those Goth kids with a ridiculous amount of piercings and completely foolish choice of clothes. A moment later Wolf was walking down the street to his apartment, sipping some Mountain Dew and eating a donut. When he felt his cell phone ring in his pocket, he reached inside to see that the caller ID placed the number as unknown. He put the phone to his ear.

"Well Wolf looks like you weren't too lazy to answer the phone huh?" Wolf immediately placed the voice as Dominick's.

"Dominick how's your nose?" Wolf asked mockingly, knowing the time before last Wolf broke his nose for trying to hurt Tanya. He heard Dominick growl on the other line.

"Listen you little prick, if I were you I'd hurry over to your sister's little hotel room. I think you'll find that things are heating up in there."

Wolf's expression grew serious, "What the hell have you done Dominick?!"

"Oh I just decided to pay your sister a little visit. She seemed a little cold so I figured I'd just warm her up a little bit. Hey, how about I send you a picture?"

Wolf's phone made a slight chime signaling that he'd received a new message. When he selected it his mouth dropped. It was Rose's hotel! Dominick had lit the whole damn building on fire! He put the phone back to his ear.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I FIND YOU I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Wolf exploded in rage, he wanted to reach through the telephone and rip Dominick's windpipe right out of his throat.

"Whoa, easy there kid. If I were you I'd be getting a move on. If you're fast you might be able to sweep up the ashes." With that last remark the line went dead.

Wolf, blinded by his hatred gripped the phone so hard that it broke in half. He threw down his food and sprinted off towards the hotel.

He'd been running for who knows how long when he came upon the hotel. He looked up at the building which had been engulfed in flames. The fire was spreading rapidly, it had by now spread to the third and fourth floors. Turning the once peaceful little hotel that once was into what looked like a gateway into hell itself. The police were doing their best to keep the civilians under control as they stared wide eyed and drop jawed at the inferno. As he ran into the crowd to try and get closer he heard someone call his name.

"Wolf, Wolf! Over here."

He spun around to see Lucy sprinting toward him in a panic. She came up to him and practically collapsed in his arms.

"Oh Wolf I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry." The tears were streaking down her face.

Wolf brushed the hair out of her face and looked at her.

"Lucy what happened?"

Lucy took a deep breath in-between sobs. "It's Rose, she's still inside! Oh Wolf why did I leave her alone?"

"Lucy listen this isn't your fault. But I need you to tell me what room you guys were staying in." Wolf said giving her a slight shake to get her out of her daze.

"Seven-seven o' six, that's the room."

Wolf's ears twitched. Seven o' six that was on the top floor then maybe they weren't out of time.

"Listen Lucy, I want you to call Josh and tell him what happened. I'm going to get Rose back."

He left Lucy standing in the street and ran off to the police officer keeping the people at bay.

"Sir you can't go in there." The officer stated coolly.

"But my sister is up there!"

"I'm sorry sir but I can't let you in that building."

"Whatever where are the damn fire trucks anyway!?" Wolf screamed over the roaring of the flames.

"Someone stole each of the trucks down at the station. They're bringing in more as we speak."

"Listen, just let me through I can get my sister out of there in no time!"

"Sir I'm not letting you go anywhere."

"Like hell you are!" And with that Wolf delivered one quick and precise head-but to the man's head.

Not waiting for the officer's friends to notice that he was lying on the ground moaning in pain, he bolted off into the building.

The heat was intense! So intense that it practically singed off his fur while he stood in that spot. The smoke stabbed at his lungs like a million tiny daggers. He struggled to see as the smoke clouded his vision and caused his eyes to water. He stumbled up the stairs as quick as he could manage. When a large beam came crashing down in front of him. He veered off to the left as the fire grew more intense, he didn't know when or what exactly exploded off to his right but something did. It flung him into the wall and caused him to gash his arm rather deeply on a glass picture. Some of the roof began to collapse, rolling to the left he managed to dodge the falling materials and avoid a skull crushing. He kicked in Rose's door and looked around. She was sprawled out onto the floor. Wolf scooped her up in his arms and pressed his head against her chest. He gave a sigh of relief when he felt the faint bump of her heart. It was faint but there. He sprinted out the door. Once he reached the third floor, he could hear a small sizzling off in the distance due to his keen hearing. He swore to himself, being a mechanic he knew exactly what this was. Someone had neglected to inspect the building properly and hadn't noticed a faint gas leak.

If the gas had been given enough time to spread throughout the whole building that would explain how the whole place caught fire so fast. He also knew that if he didn't hall some serious ass that the whole building would more than likely be blowing up with him in it!

Feeling a sudden urge of adrenaline he ran faster than he ever knew his feet could carry him. He could see the entrance now just a few feet away. He bolted through the door with Rose in his arms when the building flat out exploded. It launched him threw the doorway and singed his back.

His vision blurred as he placed Rose gently onto the cold cement. He could see a group of people gather around them. He wasn't exactly aware of what was happening at the moment but he was fairly sure a pair of paramedics were putting him on a stretcher. He saw Josh jogging beside his stretcher. He looked up and gave a dazed smile.

"Hey Josh, Rose okay?" Was all he could manage to ask, right before he slipped into unconsciousness.


	9. Of Hospitals and Back Alley Brawls

Wolf's eyes burned as bright light penetrated his retinas. His eyes were blurry and his back felt as if it was on fire, he could hear faint voices hovering over his head. He could hear the creaking of wheels as he was jostled and bumped around on what felt like a cart. He motioned to sit up but felt jolts of pain shoot through his entire body when he did so, he screamed in pain, or at least thought he did. Sound seemed muffled when it passed through his ear drums; he felt a hand force him back onto the cart. He screamed again when the hand gripped his shoulder; it felt like his whole body was falling apart!

"Give him the sedative." He heard a firm voice say, the only sound that seemed to come in clearly.

He felt a small prick on his arm, and then lost consciousness.

Josh burst through the hospital doors, the smell of medicine and sickness hung in the air. His heart raced as he pushed his way passed all the sick people up and shambling about. He shouldered his way to the front desk and slammed his hand down to get the blonde haired bimbo behind the desk to get off her cell phone. She looked up at him with an annoyed expression on her face, as if worrying about his sibling was an inconvenience to her 'personal' life.

"I'll have to call you back Julie." She looked up at him. "Can I help you?" She asked swaying her head back and forth in an annoying manner.

"Yes, my brother was in a fire last night, I heard he was being kept here!"

"What's yo brother's name?" She queried, using slang, one of Josh's pet peeves.

"Wolf,"

She looked up at him, obviously expecting more. Josh rolled his eyes, he hated his family's last name, they all did.

"Sakamoto, Wolf Sakamoto."

She turned around in her chair and began to type on her computer, a list of names popped up in green lettering. She scrolled down with her mouse and clicked on a name. A picture appeared on the screen, along with a column of information next to it.

"Says here yo brothers in the west wing, room one one three. Say, you guys Asian?" The woman asked.

Josh sighed and rolled his eyes, he was used to the question by now. "No, we just have a last name that **sounds **Asian. So can I go and see him now?" He asked with a slight touch of bitterness.

Josh was getting tired of stupid people, like the doctor that thought it would be a good idea to call him the day **after** his brother ran through a burning building!

"I aint stoppin yuh." She told him, pulling her cell phone back out and began dialing.

As he walked away he could still hear her yapping off on the phone.

"Julie? Yeah girl, oh totally, u-huh, he did not! Oh really, you think so?"

About halfway down the hall a doctor stopped him halfway there. He felt a hand on his arm; he veered around to see who it was, nearly falling over as he made his sharp turn. He felt the hands gently steady him.

"Easy there, don't want you falling over now." Josh heard a sweet voice say.

He looked up to find himself, rather flustered and just a little bit embarrassed. The face staring back at him was that of a collie. He was stunned by her beauty; she had long, slick, and shiny brown hair, which fluffed out in the back then came back around and draped across her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep set blue, they seemed to sparkle like diamonds when the light hit them just right. Her voice was calming and friendly, she held out her hand in greeting.

"You must be, mister Sakamoto." Her voice rang in his head like a hundred beautiful wind chimes.

He stood frozen in his spot for a moment, awed by her beauty. He quickly pulled himself together, not wanting to seem like an idiot.

"Ye…yes that's me, but just Josh is fine." He took her hand and shook it. Her dainty paw making his heart flutter as he touched it. He was almost sad when he had to let go.

"And I am Dr. Steel. But you can call me Grace." She told him smiling, showing magnificent rows of white teeth.

He smiled back,_ a fitting name._ Was what he thought to himself, hoping he wasn't showing how attracted he was to her.

"I'm guessing you're here to see your brother." Grace told him.

Josh's ears flickered when she said that, the mentioning of his brother snapping him back into reality.

"Yeah, is he okay!? He wasn't hurt was he!? Can I see him!?" Josh let loose a barrage of questions.

"Whoa relax one question at a time okay. Now I can tell you that your brothers alive and well. There's just one thing I find extremely interesting here…" she reassured him, flipping the papers on her clipboard back and forth. Raising her eyebrows as she inspected the tiny print, finally making sure she didn't overlook anything she put the clipboard at her side.

"Your brother had several third degree burns all over his body when they wheeled him in here. We had to give him four shots of sedative to keep him unconscious long enough to clean his wounds. But after about an hour I went in to check on him, all of his burns had been healed and he didn't even have a single scar. He was panicked and very delirious as to where he was. He was struggling so hard that we had to bind him to the gurney and put him out."

Josh was relieved to know his brother was okay, but that only lasted a short time before it was replaced with a new worry. Wolf was delirious already, and being binded down in a place he wasn't familiar with was a sure fire way to get somebody hurt. He figured Wolf was probably halfway done with chewing through his binds. He looked up at Grace with his eyes filled with worry.

"If you tied him down we better hurry. He'll have broken through leather straps by now, and I suggest we get there before he hurts someone."

"Oh you won't have to worry about that. We didn't use leather cuffs." Grace told him, rather coolly.

"So what did you use?" Josh asked with even more increased worry.

"Handcuffs, he broke through the basic leather straps in a few seconds and broke an intern's nose."

All Josh did was nod.

They walked down the hallway together; Josh wanted to run down to his brother's room before he broke an intern's neck this time. But Grace was in no hurry, and she had the key to the room. The hall seemed to go on for miles, and the silence between he and Grace was getting awkward.

"So…Grace, how long have you worked here?" Josh asked eager to hear her voice again.

She turned around and smiled at him, moving a strand of her hair out of her face as she did so. Josh felt his heart beating a little harder and he averted his eyes, hoping he wasn't blushing.

"Oh, I've been here for about three years." She answered with that wonderful voice of hers.

"I see. And what made you want to be a doctor?" He asked, hoping to extend the conversation for as long as possible.

"Well, I love to help people for one. But if you want a more direct reason I guess I really wanted to be one when I was about five years old. You see, my father and I were driving down town to get some ice cream. When a truck came screeching towards us out of nowhere. He hit us going eighty; it totaled the car and almost killed my father." She paused for a minute, looking down at her feet sadly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean," Josh began, hoping he hadn't opened up old wounds that should have been left sewed shut.

"Don't apologize, the doctors were absolutely amazing. My father was never able to walk again; they had to amputate his leg. The fact that they could save him at all was what amazed me." She looked up with a sparkle in her eye. "Ever since that incident I knew I wanted to be a doctor. I felt like it was my purpose to help people. Just like the men and women that saved my father's life."

"I see." Josh ended.

"And what about you Josh? Any close family?" She asked him, not expecting the true answer.

Josh was quiet for a moment. "Just my brother and sister, my parents are…." Josh replied, going silent for a moment.

"Oh Josh I'm sorry. How did it happen? If you don't mind me asking that is," Grace asked, her own curiosity getting the better of her.

"They…were murdered, luckily I was taking Rose to her babysitters and Wolf was locked in the closet. When I pulled him out…his eyes were just **locked** on to mom and dad's body. He was covered in so much blood, that at first I thought he was dead too. When I heard him breathing it startled me." Josh sadly ended the story.

"I'm sorry, I brought it up. But at least your brother and sister are safe." Grace said cheerily, hoping to lighten the mood just a bit.

They continued down the hall, passing by several other doctors and nurses. The flowing white of Grace's doctor robes blending in seamlessly with the discolored walls of the hospital. They both engaged in some minor small talk from time to time. When Josh asked something that would decide who he vowed to marry someday.

"So Grace, do you have a boyfriend?" Josh asked, letting the words slip from his mouth by accident.

She turned to him with a sweet and knowing smile. She knew what he wanted to hear. But could she give that answer to him?

"Unfortunately no,"

Josh felt his heart beat a little faster and he felt his spirits slightly uplifted by her answer.

"I did for a while though, but he decided that he could do better. And I haven't seen him since."

"Well, he doesn't know what he's missing. You're a very beautiful woman; you have a magnificent personality as a plus." Josh commented, his heart fluttering about his chest like a bird that had just been spotted by a predator.

Grace stopped for a moment; she looked over her shoulder and peered at him through slightly closed eyes. Josh stood and stared back at her, his feet frozen to the ground like they were incased in ice. He stood staring back at her; he hoped desperately that he hadn't touched a nerve. He felt his spirits begin to soar when he saw her smile at him.

"Why Josh, I certainly hope you **are **hitting on me." She put extra emphasis on the word. Josh shook his head back and forth to make sure he had heard correctly. "Well here we are."

Josh looked to where Grace was pointing, the door read one one three. Josh's ears perked up when he read the numbers, he'd nearly forgotten the whole reason he'd come to the hospital in the first place. He could hear grunts and groans as he leaned closer to the door. He figured Wolf had woken up by now. He yanked open the door to find that he had predicted correctly. Wolf tugged and yanked at the handcuffs biting at his wrists to no avail. He'd been struggling against the handcuffs for so long that he'd caused his wrists to bleed.

When wolf caught sight of Josh he looked him over and sighed in relief.

"Thank God it's you!" Wolf said happily. "None of these smart mouth, jacket wearing, scum bags will answer my questions! Is Rose okay?" He asked, looking up at Josh with hopeful eyes.

Josh looked at his brother and smiled.

"Yeah little bro, she's okay. She's at home right now with Lucy; she's a little shaken up but has little to no actual damage to her body."

Wolf let out an exasperated breath then looked up at his brother with an angry face.

"Good…NOW GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF THESE HANDCUFFS!" Wolf screamed at the top of his lungs. Causing several people outside of the small room to turn their heads and look.

Grace rushed over and undid the handcuffs, trying her best to keep Wolf from causing too much of a commotion. As soon as the handcuffs slid off of wolf's hands he yanked them away and rubbed the tender flesh gently. Then he hopped off the bed and motioned for the door. Josh held him back.

"Whoa slow down dude. You can't go anywhere until they check you one last time." Josh told him, holding him back with his hand.

"Like hell, these people tie me down and refuse to tell me where I am, I'm not going to stay another second in this pit." Wolf shot back, fed up at being held prisoner.

"You want to leave? Fine, but change into some new clothes first. You can't go out wearing nothing but hospital robes." Josh told him, motioning to his current set of hospital clothes.

Josh handed him a bag, in moments Wolf was dressed in a new shirt, shoes, and his old jacket. His other clothes had been destroyed in the fire. After getting dressed he didn't bother to wait for either Grace or Josh to say anything else and he jumped out the window.

Josh watched sullenly as his brother ran out the window. When he turned to Grace with an apologetic gaze.

"I'm sorry Grace, if there's any way I can make up for all the trouble-'' Josh began.

"Coffee," he heard Grace say, just above a whisper.

"W…What?" Josh asked, not sure if he heard right.

She turned to him with a smile on her lips.

"Coffee, tomorrow at noon meet me at this address. She handed him a small slip of paper. Then, much to his surprise leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll be waiting for you."

Grace left the room, leaving Josh with a red face and a small slip of paper in his left hand. He held onto the paper like it was some ancient relic. There was no way he'd blow this chance at a date.

Wolf marched angrily down the street, moisture and cold hung in the air. The clouds outside were gray, creating a dull fog that floated in the air. He tightened his jacket around him, the chill of the air biting at his body. He stretched his arms; the long time handcuffed to a hospital bed had stiffened his joints and pained his wrists. He felt a deep pit in his stomach, a pit that he knew should be filled with food. He rummaged through his pockets and pulled his wallet out. Pulling apart the dark leather he peered inside…empty…like usual. He looked around; he realized he was only a couple of blocks away from work. He decided to pop in, fix a few things up then maybe get a decent enough paycheck to get something to eat. With a groan and stretching of his stiff joints he decided to set out to his job.

Squirrel walked through the quiet street, the sun had begun to set behind the large buildings of New York. The air was cold and wet. It had rained not any longer than ten minutes ago. She had ventured out of her home needing a little alone time, the sewer had become crowded and noisy upon the return of the turtles. They had been out patrolling the city searching for crime in the streets. The noise and commotion had made it hard for her to run experiments. She found that she had lost one of her primary science books amidst the chaos, after minutes of pointless searching she figured she would just make her way to the small bookstore which rested on the corner of a busy street. The light glowing from the inside was warm and welcoming, a shelter from the wet and cold of outside.

She crossed the street and pushed open the door, the bell at the top of the door made a small chime as she walked inside. A small woman at the front desk looked at her, then seeing that it was no one important began reading her book again. The bookstore was filled with several books of all kinds; large signs hung from the ceiling gave a brief label of what you would find in that certain section of the store. The store ranged from fiction to biography with several subcategories in-between both. Aside from the occasional browser searching through his or hers favorite categories of books, the store was virtually empty. Breathing in the calmness of the small store and savoring the warmth as well she went to the science part of the store. She gently traced her fingers over the spines of the thick books. She was searching for a specific book, he was an obscure author and his books were seldom found. But she had read online that this specific chain of bookstores usually had a copy or two of his book.

Her eyes locked onto the name of the author printed in bold; when she motioned to pick it up she felt another hand brush against hers. She instinctively withdrew her hand from the strangers and looked up at him. Squirrel felt her breath get caught in her throat as she looked up at this man, he was absolutely gorgeous. He wore a very fine dress shirt and pants to match. His jaw was strong and firm, he held himself with pride. His hair was a dirty blonde that hung over his right eye, creating a slight boyish charm to him. He had strong arms, not extremely huge but enough to show he was strong.

"Oh I'm sorry miss. Do you want this book?" He asked her, his voice gentle.

Squirrel felt her face burn as she nonchalantly brushed a strand of her hair out of her eye and behind her ear.

"No…well yes, but if you want it feel free to take it." She told the man, managing to give him a smile.

"Oh but that's quiet alright my dear. I could never deprive another lover of science from such a rare volume of amazing information." The man replied, smiling back at her, making her blush even more.

"You love science too?" Squirrel blurted out.

"Why of course, I've read every single book that has to do with science from this little place. I think I can live without this single book; I'll even buy it for you miss…" He motioned with his hands for her to tell him her name.

"Oh, please call me Squirrel. And what might be your name?" She asked him, extending her hand in greeting.

He looked at her with a very handsome gaze and took her hand in his. But instead of shaking it like she expected, much to her surprise, he knelt down and gently kissed her hand instead. This caused her face to go bright red, and she found herself darting her eyes around the small store to see if either of them had attracted any unwanted eyes.

"Please, Miss Squirrel call me Robert. And it would be an honor for you to allow one of your biggest fans to purchase that book for you."

Squirrel's eyes went wide at this. So Robert was one of her fans, no wonder he was so eager to spend his hard earned money for her. He looked up at her with puppy dog eyes; she bit her lip and shifted under his gaze.

"Well…I suppose if you insist." Squirrel gave into his demands.

"Oh but I do, please allow me to do this for you. Think of it as me repaying you for the endless hours of pleasure you have given me." _And you'll give me many more hours._ Robert thought to himself, creating a small menacing smirk to stretch across his face discreetly.

"But there must be someway I can repay you for this." She said pleasantly, hoping she could repay this kind man for such a favor.

"Oh well, maybe there is a way." Robert got to his feet and scratched his chin, as if in thought. Squirrel turned her head to the side and studied his face, trying to get a clue as to what he might be thinking. When he put his hand to his side with a sigh, like he was disappointed.

"No, that wouldn't work. You must have a boyfriend; after all you are one of the most fascinating people on the planet." Robert ended with a sigh.

Squirrel's mind flashed back to Donnie. She'd found herself smitten with the young turtle, but she knew he could never really love someone so different from himself. After all, if he had any true interest for her he didn't really show it. So there couldn't be any harm in going on a date with this fine young man. After all, he was extremely handsome as well.

"To be honest Robert, I'm not actually seeing anybody right now." Squirrel told him honestly.

Robert's face lit up when she said that. "Oh this is wonderful news! I was wondering if a pretty woman such as yourself would mind going on a date with me."

"Why of course I would go on a date with you Robert." She told him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Fantastic! I will pick you up in a single hour. I have a very special place I would absolutely love to take you. Here is my number, just give me a call to tell me where you would like for me to pick you up and I'll be there."

Squirrel watched him leave the small store, filled with excitement. She had a good feeling about this date.

Squirrel stood on a busy street corner waiting for Robert to drive by and pick her up. When she saw a red car pull up in front of her. Robert emerged from the driver's seat, and gave her a smile.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked her, smiling.

"Yep," she told him, while he helped her climb into the passenger seat.

He took her to a nice little corner restaurant, it was extremely fancy and Squirrel was glad she had picked out her fanciest dress for this occasion. They sat for what must have been hours discussing various topics. When Squirrel stifled a yawn, glancing down at her watch she saw that time had passed much quicker than she had originally guessed. The sun was now completely gone, and the moon had taken its place in the sky.

"Oh would you look at the time." Robert said, glancing down at his Rolex. "It's much later than I thought it would be. I'd better take you home; New York can get rather dangerous at this time of the day." Richard said, standing up from the table and offering her his hand.

She took it with a smile as he helped her to her feet.

"Oh that's very kind of you Robert."

They walked together down the street; Robert had been forced to park far away from the restaurant earlier in the day. They walked together down an alley, Squirrel hadn't been paying much attention as to where they were going, and unfortunately she had let her guard down.

Before she even knew what was happening Robert had spun around and gripped her by the shoulders! He threw her to the side with a force strong enough to knock the wind out of her! She scrambled away from him as fast as possible, she felt him stomp on her tail to keep her from going anywhere. She yelped out in pain as he twisted his foot on the soft tail, sending waves of pain shooting throughout her body. She looked up at him with startled eyes, why was he doing this to her?

He wore an evil smirk as he stared down at Squirrel. It was in that moment she knew what Robert really intended. He wasn't really the calm nice and charming individual, all of that was just a cruel mask he wore to trick young women into a state of trust. In that moment she saw that mask peel away to reveal the cruel and perverted monster hidden beneath. His façade had faded away into the shadows of the dark alley.

He gripped her by the arms with incredible strength, and picked her up from the ground. With a sneer he drew her close.

"Now my dear, how about you show me those wonderful melons of yours." He told her, seizing the fabric of her dress in one hand and holding onto her with the other.

Squirrel, widening her eyes in horror, knew full well what he intended and refused to let him get that far. She delivered several small palm strikes to the man's ribs, forcing him to knock her away. She heard her dress rip as Robert tossed her aside, and she felt the cool air chill a part of her body. Glancing down after she hit the ground she realized that the part of her dress, just below the breasts had been ripped off. Nearly exposing the soft and supple flesh to the cool air, she didn't have time to react as soon as Robert jumped on top of her. She looked up at him, her eyes filled with fear. Was this really how her virginity would be taken, by an animal with no respect? She felt his eyes running up and down her body, with an animalistic lust that could never be sated.

She clasped her eyes shut as she felt his tongue slide down her neck as she lay there helpless, unable to even defend herself. He pulled away from her and looked down at her with an evil grin before he spoke.

"Oh I love it when they try to fight back. You'll be my third this week; oh I always wanted to do it with a celebrity. I'll make good use out of yo- ack!" Robert was cut off.

Squirrel felt his weight lifted off of her in a single swift motion. She heard a large clatter followed by a shout of pain from Robert. She opened her eyes wide enough to see, her rescuer. It was Wolf! He stood over her protectively, breathing heavily, his breath coming out in wisps as the cool air of the night chilled his breath. He held his fist in a balled up position, he clasped them closed so tight that his nails dug into his flesh, causing his palms to bleed.

He stood in a statuesque position, not even flinching as Robert got back up swinging. Robert was strong, but any essence of control in his fighting style or even a small amount of training was hard to spot, if it was there at all. Wolf held up his arms to ward off the blows, he was surprised by the mans strength. He wasn't prepared for the force of the first blow, as soon as it struck him he stumbled slightly. This opened up his left side, leaving his left rib open to strike. Robert took quick advantage of this and slammed his fist into Wolf's side. Wolf gritted his teeth and winced at the pain. The strike felt like a god damn sledge hammer smacking into him! He quickly put his guard back up, blocking the rest of Robert's punches. Robert was so strong it was ridiculous, and Wolf knew if it came down to endurance there wasn't any chance that he could last longer than Robert. But he had the one thing Robert didn't have, he had speed.

Wolf realized this as soon as possible and backed down from his more aggressive stance into a little more open but fast one. He bobbed and weaved out of the way of Robert's clumsy and poorly aimed strikes. He unleashed a barrage of jabs and quick kicks, all of which landed exactly where Wolf wanted them to land.

Robert was running short of breath and Wolf's jabs were beginning to sting. He let his body droop, this being his fatal mistake. Wolf let loose another barrage of fists, each connected with the force of a thousand pounds slamming into Robert. He keeled over in pain, holding onto his stomach. Wolf bent down low and hit him several more times before Robert held up his hands to make him stop.

Wolf looked down at Robert, both of them were bruised and beaten, but Wolf had managed to win out this fight. He held his fist cocked, ready to knock Robert out if he so much as made a single wrong twitch. Robert fell into a fit of coughing before he spoke,

"Listen man, I don't want any trouble. Just let me go, and I promise never to touch another girl again." Robert promised though it was empty. He planned on stalking Squirrel again until she was alone, then he'd get what he wanted.

Wolf saw through his ruse however, could smell the stink of the lie that slid out of his mouth like a snake. He bent down towards him menacingly, and curled his lip in disgust.

"I should cut your balls off for what you've done! But I suppose breaking your arm will have to do." Wolf whispered menacingly, gripping Roberts left arm with crushing force before he could react.

"No wait!" Robert screamed, but it was too late. Robert felt his bones crush and shatter as Wolf gripped and yanked on the arm in one swift motion.

Squirrel winced as she heard the sound of Roberts bones crushing. Though she felt no remorse for his pain, she saw Wolf stand up and dust off his hands. Like he just got done taking out the garbage. Garbage being a suitable word for that scum that just took off with his tail between his legs. Squirrel shakily got to her feet, her knees feeling wobbly. Wolf walked over and helped her to her feet.

"You have a tendency to get into trouble miss Winters." Wolf said cheekily smiling at her as he steadied her back onto her own two feet.

"And you have a tendency to get me out of trouble Wolf." She told him, smiling up at him.

She realized he was keeping his eyes averted. For a brief moment she wondered why, when she felt a gust of wind chill a familiar and rather exposed part of her body. She clasped her arms over her chest and looked away embarrassed, hoping that her face wasn't going to red.

"Here, put this on." Wolf told her, she looked up to see him offering her his green jacket.

She gladly took the clothing from his hand and wrapped it around her body, zipping it closed to keep herself from being too exposed. The jacket was too big for her and hung loosely around her slender body, but it was better than being mostly naked. Not to mention it looked very odd for her to be wearing a boy's jacket with a girls skirt poking out beneath.

"I think I'd better walk you home. A broken arm might not keep him from trying again you know." Wolf told her, turning his back on her and beginning to walk away.

"Wait." Squirrel called to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see her smiling wryly. "A damsel has to kiss her prince doesn't she?"

Wolf raised an eyebrow at the offer, it certainly enticed him. Who wouldn't want to get a kiss by a pretty girl? He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well…I suppose if you insist." He smiled at her.

She drew in close and closed her lips over his, perhaps it was a little too passionate, but it didn't feel like much more than a small peck. And that was plenty too get Wolf sated. He smiled at her as they broke away.

Little did either of them now…that from the rooftops sat a certain turtle. A turtle that's heart had just been crushed into dust. He retreated away from the building, tears stinging his eyes.


	10. Cruise

Donatello Hamato angrily ripped off the cover to the manhole beneath him. He felt so furious that, using strength he didn't know he had, tossed the fifty pound steel cover across the desolate street of Manhattan. Sending it straight through a brick wall and shattering the windshield of a junked up Porsche resting on three old cinderblocks and a turned over trash can., the wheels of the disabled vehicle stripped off long ago by a group of young delinquents.

He swiftly wiped away a few stray tears that had begun to dry on his face before swiftly jumping down into the sewer. As he continued moving deeper and deeper into the dark and dank labyrinth thoughts shot through his mind like a machinegun set on full auto. Images of the woman he idolized, no…..loved, locking lips with the man she had met no more than perhaps four days ago crept into his mind. He'd push the image away and then continue on his way. Yet the thought kept pushing itself into his consciousness, like an annoying gnat to small to squash but big enough to annoy the hell out of you.

He pushed open the secret door that led to his and his brothers' secret lair. His siblings were all huddled around a couple boxes of pizza, chewing hungrily on the triangular slices of cheese, cooked dough, and pepperoni.

"Yo Donnie, want some pizza bro?" He heard one of his brothers ask. Not turning to look he figured it must have been Michelangelo. Due to the enthusiastic use of slang and the odd cheeriness that always seemed to emanate from his brother.

Not saying a word he stomped off towards his room, and slammed the door.

"Sheesh, wonder what his problem is." Mikey sighed, turning his head back towards his pizza slice.

"Who cares, he's such a drama queen." Raphael replied, finishing off the last bit of crust in his hand. "He probably just stubbed his toe or something on the way in."

In the next room Donnie sat quietly at his desk, his head in his hands. He couldn't believe what he saw, wouldn't believe it. But no matter how much he tried to deny what he saw the total clarity of what had happened was obvious. And in that clarity he found a truth, a terrible truth….Squirrel didn't truly care one ounce for him. He felt his mind and body subside into sadness one last time as he keeled over and began to cry. Gradually his thoughts went from sadness to anger, then anger to hate. And hate is where his mind stayed, for that's how he TRULY felt on the inside. He hated Wolf for being the new object of his desires affection, and he hated Squirrel…..No, he thought. He couldn't hate Squirrel, no matter how much he wished he could. The gate of love kept his hate barred on the other side of where Squirrel lay within him. That's when a sudden thought shot through him, what if he were too…..no that was crazy…..but certainly possible. What if he were too…..eliminate Wolf? He knew how the police operated he could make sure no one ever found him again. YES! That was it; Donnie sat up and began to work out a

Plan, an evil plan, a terrible plan. One that would come to fruition tomorrow night,

Three hours later and 3 miles farther into the city Wolf and Squirrel stood on the outside of a white picket fence that led to a average sized gray house. Several police cars lined the street, one officer after another filing out of the white and blue vehicles. With weapons drawn they surrounded the house. One officer pulled out a megaphone and began to speak.

"Robert McCarran, step outside now with your hands up or we will take aggressive action." The officer paused to see if he could get a reaction, to no avail. "You have three seconds to comply. One….two…..three, break it down!" The lead officer gave the order. The officer positioned next to the door kicked it down and rushed inside shouting demands. All in one instant each officer filed into the house, the sound of shouting could be heard on the inside.

"Put down the weapon, I said put down the weapon or Ill shoot! Now get on the floor,"

Moments later the police were dragging Robert out of his home, Squirrel eyed her attacker, hoping that he would be put away for as long as possible. And due to her wealth and the ability to hire one of the best lawyers on the planet, she was confident he would be.

"H….hey what the hell man? What's your deal, I didn't do anything!" Robert was shouting angrily, waving his arms crazily, trying to get the officers to let go of him. He was wearing a makeshift cast made out of paper towels and cloth. He was still screaming obscenities when they loaded him into the back of the police cruiser and drove off. The sounds of sirens quietly fading away, leaving both Wolf and Squirrel standing there in silence,

Squirrel let out an exasperated breath, the gravity of the situation she was in earlier still haunting her mind. Wolf looked down at her worriedly; she'd been through a lot recently. He didn't even want to know what could have happened if he was even perhaps a minute late. He'd known a few girls that had gone through the whole scenario before. And from what he saw with the young girls the emotional scars were much worse than the physical ones. He could recall seeing one girl that had scratch marks all over her body, not from her attacker, but by her own hand. She had tried to claw off her own skin because she felt as if her body had been 'defiled', as the young girl so accurately described.

Wolf reached over and put his arm around her comfortingly, brushing his fingers over the green sweater she was wearing. She had changed out of her torn dress and put on the much more comfortable sweater that she had bought quite a while ago during her tour in France.

"You okay?" Wolf asked her apprehensively.

She leaned her head on his shoulder, enjoying the comfort of his protection, a side of him that she had yet to see with his complex personality. She was rather perplexed with his persona, sometimes he's arrogant cocky and smart mouthed, other times dark brooding and depressed, then completely ruthless, the comment he made to Robert before shattering his arm was proof enough of that, and even though he was all of those things he still managed to be tender and caring. Not only did she have trouble understanding Wolf as an individual, she had a difficult time understanding their feelings. Not romantic per say, but close to say the least. She thought of him as a close friend for sure, but they had made it quite clear to each other that they didn't think of each other as a couple. Recent events making her slightly more attached to him than what she would have thought capable in the short time they had known each other.

She sighed before she spoke, bringing her mind back into reality.

"Yeah, I just want to be sure that he gets everything he deserves. Not just for what he tried to do to me, but for what he already did to the other girls. I don't even want to think about what might have happened if you hadn't shown up when you did."

"Don't worry about him, there's plenty of solid evidence to prove that he's responsible. And even if he does somehow get out, I'll be there to make sure he never violates another girl again." Wolf reassured her, and she believed him, there was no doubt in her mind that Wolf would kill Robert before he would allow him to so much as get within three feet of a woman.

"I still feel like I owe you something." She looked up at him trying to read his thoughts.

"Don't worry about it; I beat punks like that up every day. You don't owe me anything."

"Even so, I still think there has to be something I can do." She searched her mind for a suitable reward that she could come up with. That's when a thought struck her; an old friend of her father was taking his cruise ship out tonight. "I have an idea!" Squirrel beamed. "Wolf have you ever been on a cruise."

Wolf retracted his arm from her shoulder and eyed her curiously, surprised at her sudden change in attitude.

"No, I've seen them on TV though. Why do you ask?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow incredulously.

"Well I was thinking, I know a guy that has a real fancy boat and is throwing an overnight party out on the water tonight. And I figured that would be a pretty good reward for you. You could even bring that girl you were telling me about. What was her name, Tanya?"

Wolf frowned slightly; it seemed as if she was hell bent on rewarding him for his actions.

"I told you I didn't want a rewar-'' Wolf began, only to be cut off.

"Please Wolf, wont you just let me take you on one little trip? Please," Squirrel begged, looking up at him with large puppy dog eyes.

If you were to ask Wolf what his one weakness was he'd have no choice but to tell you that it was when a girl begged him for something. If you were patient and tried hard enough you could probably get him to saw off his own finger.

"Well…..fine, b….but I won't stay all night. Okay?" Wolf added, doing his best to sound resistant to her demands, to no true success.

"Great and I promise to pay for all the expenses. I'll pay for the food, the drinks, both yours and Tanya's tickets, oh and your suit too."

Wolf's ears twitched and his lip curled a little. He mouthed the word 'suit' with disgust. If there was a single outfit he hated wearing it was a suit. The tie always felt like a clawed hand wrapping its icy fingers around his throat and sucking the life out of him, and there were rarely any suit stores that catered to his species. There was rarely ever a hole in the back large enough for him to fit his large and rather fluffy tail through.

"I'll meet you at the docks around ten tonight, don't be late because once the boat leaves it's not going to return until about one okay. Now I'm off to do some shopping, I'll see you later tonight." Squirrel finished, oddly cheery for some reason. Before walking off her own direction, her tail swaying happily back and forth before she disappeared in the distance,

Wolf just shook his head and went off in search of a payphone. He needed to give Tanya a call, and due to the fact that he crushed his cell phone a couple days ago meant that he didn't really have any means of communication. He walked down the quiet street, and felt the warmth on his fur as the sun began to take its place high up in the sky.

Josh sat quietly at the wooden table inside of a small coffee shop sitting on the corner of a busy street in the middle of Coney Island. The sound of car horns and angry drivers outside was a constant and annoying distraction. He drummed his fingers against the wooden table edgily; he checked the piece of paper crumpled up in his hand again.

"Yeah, this is the address." He looked around his surroundings again, then at the clock up in the corner which read 3:32. "So why is she an hour and a half late?" Josh said more to himself than anybody else.

"It's good to see you dressed up for the occasion." He heard a familiar voice declare behind him. Causing him to jump,

He whipped around quickly, maybe a little too quickly.

"Grace!" Josh practically shouted, drawing the attention of several of the customers inside of the shop.

Grace took her seat across from him and motioned for the waitress. She held up a finger to signal that it would be a few minutes.

"Sorry it took so long Josh. An emergency patient was wheeled into the hospital and I felt like I just had to help. To be honest I was afraid you wouldn't be here."

Josh looked Grace over, her hair and clothes proving her story. Her usual beautiful well combed hair tussled and thrown about carelessly. As if she had run all the way here. And even a few red specks dotted her doctor's jacket, proving that the patient might have been in an accident, or perhaps a shooting, which wasn't necessarily uncommon in New York.

"Well, you look good." Josh told her, unable to think of what else to say. He was always terrible at small talk, especially with the opposite sex.

Grace giggled a little. "You don't have to lie Josh; I know I look like a mess. Speaking about messes, how's your brother doing?"

Josh shrugged his shoulders before speaking. "Haven't seen him recently, he's probably out getting into fights. You'll more than likely see him in the hospitable again pretty soon. That kid is a magnet for trouble." Josh finished, shaking his head back and forth in disdain.

"He certainly seems interesting. That is when he isn't spouting curse words."

The waitress approached their table, a rather heavy set girl with short hair. "Can I take your order?" She asked, almost robotically.

"Yes, I'll have just a medium coffee, decaf please." Grace placed her order.

"I'll have the special, with lots of foam." Josh did as well.

The waiter walked off to prepare their drinks. Grace turned back to Josh.

"So Josh, what is it you do again?" She asked him, clearly curious of his occupation.

Josh hesitated for a moment, slightly embarrassed at his low paying and often demeaning job.

"Well….I uh am currently employed as a bartender." He coughed quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment. "But I'm considering joining the military." He added quickly, hoping to redeem his previous career.

"Oh really, my uncle was in the military." Grace commented.

The two engaged in small talk throughout the rest of the day. Time had begun to pass much faster than either of them was expecting, the sun had begun to set, turning the sky into a bright orange.

Grace finished laughing at one of Josh's jokes when she noticed the time.

"Oh would you look at the time. I really need to be getting home." Grace stood up to take her leave.

"I….I'll walk you!" Josh shot out of his chair, nearly falling over due to the fact that there wasn't enough space in between the chair and the table.

Grace shook her head discreetly to herself while smirking.

"Sure Josh,"

Wolf opened up the worn and beat up front door to his small little apartment building. He walked leisurely up the stairs; bits of garbage and other filth sat in the corners of where the stairs stopped for a moment and went flat for a few feet. Graffiti was written on the walls every step of the way. Not one bit of it actually comprehensible, Wolf figured it was because over half of the gang population in New York wasn't smart enough to spell correctly. He continued up the stairs, holding onto a thin paper bag with the label perfection written on the front. He let his mind go blank as he began the final stretch to his apartment. Not really looking where he was going he collided into a young girl wearing a white bathroom robe and carrying a large amount of laundry.

Rubbing on the spot of his muzzle that the girl rammed her chin into he eyed her apologetically.

"Ow….sorry about that mam….Lucy?" He eyed the girl again, making sure that he wasn't making a mistake. No he was right he was used to the familiar look of her brunette hair, and the smell of her perfume. It always smelt like cotton candy, it also wasn't uncommon to see her usual cherry red lipstick smeared and slightly off, due to rather long make out sessions with his sister.

Lucy bent down and began to pick up the scattered bits of clothing and other things that needed washed.

"Oh hi Wolf, I was just uh…taking out the laundry, ha ha nothing special." She finished rather suspiciously.

"Well let me help," he put down his paper sack and bent down to provide Lucy a little aid with the scattered condiments.

"No! I mean uh…no that's alright I can get it!" Lucy sputtered quickly, picking up her pace a little, her hands darting across the floor a little quicker.

Wolf smiled, "no it aint a big deal, I made you drop it, that means I should be the one to help you….help you…wait…..these are my pillow cases. And that's my bedspread, and those are my sheets! And that's my sock, Lucy what the hell did you need my sock for!" Wolf said, astounded.

Lucy finished gathering up the laundry and smiled at him nervously. "Well you see, there's a funny story behind that. Your sister and I were watching a movie of….well lets just say it wasn't necessarily politically correct. And it taught us a few new things, to say the least. And her bed was just a little too small, so we went to yours and…" Lucy began.

"Oh dear god please don't explain it. Just," he fished in his pocket for some change. "Wash everything twice okay." He handed her the coins.

Lucy nodded and continued on her way down the hall. Wolf just shook his head and picked up his plastic bag before going the opposite direction.

_Note to self, start locking your door._ Wolf told himself, he **Really **didn't want to make this a nightly occurrence.

He put his key in the lock and opened the door, when he walked inside, as he expected clothes were strewn about carelessly. Something he was used to seeing when he returned after being gone for a few days at a time. He heard the water to the shower turn off after he stepped inside, the door to the bathroom opened, causing a bright shaft of light to illuminate the dark room. Rose stepped out wearing a towel and dripping wet. She looked up surprised, obviously expecting someone else.

"Oh, hi big brother," she greeted almost as if she was disappointed. She walked past him, heading towards the closet. His nostrils reluctantly picking up the strong and pungent scent of Lucy's body mixed up with his sister's. So strong was the smell that it caused him to recoil and cover his airways.

Rose eyed him curiously. "What, is it that bad? Or is your abnormal ability to detect a person's scent acting up again?" She asked him, and out of curiosity sniffed herself.

The mixture of smells only seeming faint at the least, Lucy being a human could never tell how strong the mixture of their bodies could be, Wolf on the other hand had a strange ability to detect certain smells. It was even abnormal for his species. Although it was less than a minor inconvenience to Rose it was powerful enough to make Wolf nauseous and light headed.

Stumbling away from his sister he headed towards his room.

"No wait, don't go in there!" Rose did her best to warn him. But he continued on, as if in a haze.

Desperately trying to escape the smell he ripped open his door. Only to be bombarded by the same odor. Only this time twice as bad, his gag reflex kicking in he slammed the door and ran to the kitchen sink and wretched.

Rose hesitated to help him, afraid that her smell might make him even sicker.

As soon as Wolf finished puking out his lunch the smell seemed to disappear. The strange thing about his unusual smelling ability was that he could never truly control when it kicked in.

He turned on the sink, stood back up on wobbly legs and washed his face. He turned his head towards Rose before he spoke.

"It's alright, I can't smell it anymore." He coughed, his throat still burning a little. "Do me a favor and get me a phone. I have to call Tanya." He checked the time; it was only 10:30, which meant he still had about an hour and a half before he had to go to dinner.

Rose did as he asked and handed him the receiver. He punched in the number quickly, after what had just happened he didn't really have much of an appetite. He imagined no one would. But he'd already agreed to dinner, and he felt it would be rude not to go.

Tanya sat sprawled out on her lush and comfortable bed, her TV set on a movie channel. She wasn't rightfully paying attention to what was happening. She knew it was an action movie, and that Bruce Willis was in it, but that was about it. She wore a skimpy little nighty, her knees up to her chest and her tail wrapped comfortingly around her feet. A bottle of pink nail polish sitting open on her nightstand, she was prettying up her nails. While she did this she began to let her mind wander. Casting her glance up she gave a small bit of attention to the television. A large explosion lit up the screen, sending guts and several bad guys flying while Bruce dashed across the screen spraying bullets.

She smirked, "I bet Wolf would like this movie." She sighed, "Speaking of him I wonder where he is. He hasn't snuck into my window once this week."

As if on cue her phone began to ring, startling her slightly and causing her to miss her fingernail, creating a big red splotch on the side of her hand.

"Son of a…" she began to swear before cutting herself off and picking up the phone. Putting the receiver to her ear she pressed the talk button and began to speak. "Hello?"

"Tanya?" A familiar voice answered on the other end.

Tanya sat bolt upright. "Wolf! Jeese where have you been? I've been so lonely the past couple of days."

She heard him sigh on the other end. "It's a long story, anyways to sum things up I met a girl and she wants us to go to dinner on a cruise later tonight."

_Met a girl_? The words stuck into Tanya's mind like needles in a pin cushion

"Uh….Tanya, you there?" Wolf's voice said through the phone, snapping her back into reality.

"Yeah, dinner sounds nice. How long do we have to get ready?"

"About an hour or so, it's supposed to be a pretty fancy dinner party so wear something at least a little formal." Wolf told her a little forcefully, knowing all to well that most of her clothes were anything but.

"Don't worry I still have that dress you bought me." She reassured him.

"Good wear that; I'll be by to pick you up in a bit."

"Kay see you then," she hung the phone up.

Wolf put the phone back on the charger. And got a glass of water to sooth his aching throat, gulping down the water in one quick drink he set it back down. When he heard Rose rummaging through his package,

"Holy crap, Wolf is this what I think it is?" Rose began, a smile beginning to crawl across her face.

"Rose if you have any smart mouthed comments save 'em I'm really not in the mood." Wolf told her flatly.

"Oh fine, you're no fun. Just let me get my camera real quick, I have got to see you put this on."

Wolf sighed as Rose dashed into her room with lightning speed. He could hear her rummaging through her things. Muttering to herself as she searched, Wolf took advantage of the brief moment when she wasn't bothering him grabbed the suit and dashed out of the building.

Wolf and Tanya walked inside of the large cruise ship. Wolf looked around nervously and tugged at his tie in annoyance. Feeling a little out of place he just wanted to find Squirrel and eat dinner. He looked Tanya over again and shook his head.

"I thought I told you to wear that dress I bought you." He told her.

"I am, I just made a few adjustments to it." She told him flatly. It was a dark blue dress, and it sparkled under the light. The obvious 'adjustment' as she had put it was the hole cut just above her breasts in the shape of a heart. "So where's this girl you wanted me to meet."

"Uh….." Wolf scanned the small crowd of people, when he picked out the familiar sight of Squirrel's lush and bright tail. "There she is." Wolf told her pointing in Squirrel's direction.

When Squirrel turned around Tanya's heart sank. This was far from what she was expecting. Tanya had never felt self conscious before, let alone inferior. She knew she could get any man she wanted and that was no doubt but a fact. But now, seeing the girl her current boyfriend had spent a whole night with, made her feel inadequate to say the least.

Tanya bumped him on the shoulder to get his attention. "That's her!"

"Yep, she looks good in that dress. Don't you think?" Wolf commented, not realizing that comment was like a stab through the heart.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" Squirrel told the couple she was talking to and walked over towards them. Her dress swaying with her steps, the white garment sparkling as she approached. Her eyes seeming to do the same thing as she got closer.

"Wolf, it's so good to see you again. I was beginning to think you wouldn't come. You look nice in your new suit." Squirrel complimented.

"Yeah thanks, I only wish it felt as good as it looked." He replied, tugging on the tie in annoyance to emphasize his point. "Anyway suit gripes aside, this is..." he began to motion towards Tanya before she stepped in front of him.

"I'm Tanya, Wolf's 'girlfriend'. And you are?" Tanya crossed her arms.

"I'm Squirrel, Wolf and I met the other day. It's good to finally meet you, he's told me quite a bit about you."

"I bet he did." She mumbled to herself.

"Well, let's go get some food."

Squirrel led them to a fine looking table, a reserve sign resting on the top, next to a bottle of wine sitting inside of an ice bucket. They all took their seats and placed their orders, both of the girls choosing identical salads. Wolf having only a glass of water, his stomach still nauseas from earlier in the night.

"So Squirrel," Tanya said her name with a bit of an edge. "Tell me a little about yourself."

"Well where I used to live I was rather 'different'. You see back home they do everything very old fashioned. None of them are very experienced with modern technology, and when I was found by my Master Panda I had a strange craving for said technology and modern society. So I was sent on my way to travel the planet. On my travels I was adopted by Max Winters. You might have heard of him."

"Yeah I have, wasn't he that millionaire that disappeared a while back." Tanya pitched in nonchalantly, while secretly hoping to strike a nerve. Something she apparently succeeded in from Squirrel's reaction.

Squirrel's head hung low, a strand of her golden hair fell over her eye. She shed a single tear before pulling her head up and continuing the conversation.

"Yes….yes he was. When he disappeared however he left me everything in his will." She told Tanya proudly.

"Oh, so you're a millionaire to…..that's just great." Tanya gripped the spoon in her hand hard enough to bend it in the middle, hiding her aggravation as best she could.

Wolf wasn't really paying much attention, to their small talk. He would occasionally nod his head but that was about it. He did steadily notice how Tanya was edging her way closer and closer to him until she had her arm around him, giving him the odd impression that she was practically claiming him as her's and nobody else's.

"Wolf are you okay? You don't look so good." He heard Squirrel question him with concern.

He looked up at her, his ears drooping and his face pale.

"Well uh, I don't suppose you have anything that would ease my stomach would you?" He asked, the pain in his abdomen growing worse.

"Actually I might, let me go and check my purse real quick. Be back in a second."

"Thanks Squirrel, I appreciate it." He smiled at her as she walked away.

Tanya let out a 'humph' before crossing her arms and leaning back into her chair.

"Something wrong?" He asked her.

"Why did you even bring me here?" She asked him in a snooty voice.

"What, because I wanted you to come, why?"

"Oh please, it's obvious you're more interested in miss millionaire over there then you are me!"

"What are you talking about? I looked at her once." Wolf scratched the top of his head in wonder.

Tanya huffed and poured herself another glass of wine just to down it in one gulp, her fifth glass of the evening.

"Never mind, I'll take care of it later." She told him flatly.

Wolf just shook his head and rested his elbows on the table. _Women are weird_. Was all he thought.

Squirrel came back with a couple pills in her hand.

"Here, take these, they should help." She handed him the small tablets.

He took the pills gladly and swallowed them immediately. He was surprised at how fast they cured his issue. They seemed almost instant.

Wolf's ears perked up and his face regained color as he spoke.

"Wow Squirrel, those things are great, thanks."

Squirrel just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Anything to see you in good health,"

_Oh that's it!_ Tanya thought menacingly.

The captain's voice sounded over the speakers. "Attention everyone, we will be docking in ten minutes, I would like to thank you all for coming on board tonight and I hope to see you all again tomorrow.

"Well so long as the trips almost over would you both like to head out on deck and see the stars?" Squirrel asked.

"Sure I'll be out in a moment; I'm going to use the bathroom first." Wolf announced before taking his leave.

Squirrel looked out at the wide open sky, the sound of the waves lapping up against the sides of the boat were constant. And the smell of the fresh sea water was calm and refreshing.

"Hey slut!" A voice rang out from behind her.

"Excuse me!" Squirrel began, startled and offended at the same time.

SLAP!

Squirrel held onto her burning cheek, feeling the stinging pain. Her eyes slowly coming into focus to see her attacker.

"Tanya!" Squirrel asked, surprised.

"So you think you can just take him from me huh?" Tanya hissed.

"W…what?"

"Well I have news for you, you blond haired bimbo. He's mine, and you'll never take him from me." She pulled her hand back for another swing.

Squirrel braced herself for another attack, when she saw Tanya's hand stop in the middle of the air. Looking up she saw who was holding her back.

"Wolf, let me go!" Tanya struggled against his grip.

"Tanya! What are you doing?" Wolf demanded, shocked at the events that he had just been witness to.

"I'm doing what I have too!" She shot back. "I won't let you be taken away from me! Why do you like her so much huh! Is it because she's perfect and I'm not, because when we met I didn't have anything, and she's a damn millionaire!

Wolf gripped her by the shoulders. "Tanya look at me! There's nothing between Squirrel and me. And what you're doing isn't right."

Tanya looked at him; she could see pain and pity inside of his ice blue eyes. Then she cast her glance at Squirrel, the same look on her face as well. Tanya felt the tears begin to overflow a swell of emotions swimming around inside of her like thousands of restless fish.

"Oh Wolf I'm so sorry." The tears began to run in thick rivulets down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry." She cried out, and before Wolf could stop her she darted across the boat, and down the ramp, her soft sobs slowly disappearing into the darkness of the night.

Wolf bit his lower lip, and stood in silence, his heart aching.

Squirrel didn't know what to say.

"Wolf I didn't mean…" she began.

"Don't worry about it Squirrel, it's not your fault. But if it's all the same with you I'm going to go home." He told her flatly, before walking off his own way.

Wolf was walking down the quiet street, lost in his own thoughts. Isolated from the world around him, he didn't notice the figure slowly creeping up on him. It wasn't until he heard his stalker speak that he even noticed his existence.

"There you are Wolf." He heard a voice echo from behind.

"Hm," Wolf's ears twitched slightly at the sound of his name. He spun around to notice a familiar bulky frame walking towards him. He squinted his eyes to try and place the person. "Donnie, is that you?"

The figure didn't reply only continued to walk towards him.

"Donnie, what are you doing out here?" He asked again.

Donnie just stopped dead in front of him, unmoving; he seemed like a statue built in the middle of the side walk. . When he spoke it was nothing above a whisper.

"I'm doing something I should have done when we first met."

Suddenly a large spear shot out of the darkness and sliced his chest open.

"What the?' Wolf shouted caught off guard, his chest throbbing in pain.

Donnie spun the spear around and collided the blunt end of the spear with the side of his head. While Wolf was recoiling. Donnie delivered a heavy kick into Wolf's stomach sending him flying backwards into a puddle of dark and disgusting fluid. Wolf pulled himself up and wiped the blood off of his lip. He pulled off his tattered, blood stained, and now soaking wet suit and tossed it aside.

"Alright Donnie boy, I don't know what the hell you're problem is, but you ruined my suit. And now," Wolf cracked his knuckles." I'm goanna have to kick your ass."


	11. Choices

Wolf stood quietly, his eyes locked onto his attacker, the blood from the gash on his chest pouring out in thick rivulets over his body, staining his white dress shirt with dirty splotches of crimson. The wound didn't hurt do to the extreme amount of adrenaline surging through his body, though he knew adrenaline would only dent the pain for so long.

He didn't know why Donnie had suddenly decided that he needed killing, and honestly he didn't care. The one thing he was sure of was that Donnie was going to be beaten within an inch of his life.

Donnie held the spear at arms length, keeping Wolf at a safe distance. The dripping sound of the blood coating the tip of his weapon the only sound that penetrated the menacing silence growing between them. He'd hoped Wolf would just rush at him and impale himself on the weapon, but to his surprise Wolf held back. Circling Donnie at a leisurely pace watching and waiting, he was clearly smarter than the average street fighter. But Donnie still had the advantage of being a trained warrior; someone he was certain Wolf hadn't had the chance to fight.

Suddenly Donnie charged forward! Not having enough time to plan his counter attack Wolf relied on his bodies natural instinct, diving out of the way of the of the blade! Rolling around to the back of his opponent he unleashed a roundhouse kick, driving his foot into the back of his attacker! Upon the collision however he felt an extreme pain surge through his leg, the cracking sound splitting the air, an obvious inclination to the snapping of his ankle. Shouting out of surprise and pain Wolf keeled over and flopped onto his back, clutching at his shattered bone in agony while simultaneously spouting out several dirty obscenities.

Donnie leisurely spun around, a menacing grin slowly crawling across his face.

"News flash Wolf, I've got a shell." Donnie told him in a seething whisper, tapping on his back with the tip of his spear to emphasize his point. "I ran a few tests one day; turns out my shell can take up to ten thousand pounds of pressure." He lashed out in a stabbing motion again, aiming for Wolf's heart.

Kicking away with his still working foot Wolf managed to keep the blade from hitting its mark, the cold steel striking his shoulder instead! Screeching in pain as his warm blood rushed out in a crimson torrent from the wound. He began to stare at Donnie with fire in his eyes. Only to find himself surprised when he saw, not the soulless stare of a murderer, but the wide eyed shock of a man rooted to the ground in horror.

Wolf snarled. "Well what are you waiting for?" He asked defiantly, gritting his teeth, using his anger to help cope with the intense pain coursing through his broken body.

Wolf could see Donnie's lips moving, as if he wanted to respond but had forgotten the simple act of speech.

"Well!" Wolf practically shouted, blood spurting from his mouth, causing him to cough uncontrollably, his vision blurring slightly from the sudden movement. "You wanted to kill me so badly."

Donnie's eyes flashed from his blood coated spear to Wolf's face, then back again. He removed the blade from Wolf's shoulder with a sickening squelch. Wolf shouted again and clutched at the wound, the warm fluid coating his hand. Donnie raised the spear again; he could feel cool sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He scanned his eyes over his victim one last time. Wolf sat hunched over in pain, coated in his own blood, his once pristine tailored clothes now drenched in the crimson fluid. His eyes half closed, his leg hanging limply, unable to move do to his shattered bone.

Suddenly Donnie felt a deep pang of self hatred and loathing, his jaw went slack and his heart began to race at intense speed. He could feel the sticky wet perspiration beginning to form on his forehead, his mouth tasted of bile and he could feel his stomach begin to turn and he suddenly felt as if he was going to vomit.

His spear fell to his side with a clang. He looked down at his hands, and once again he felt his stomach churn. His once green hands had now been stained with the prominent red of another's blood. His own thoughts bombarded his mind with the force of a semi truck.

_What am I doing! This…this isn't me! _He couldn't help but look at Wolf's broken body once more, the same feeling of self hatred coursed through his mind once again, pushed against his consciousness and seemed to strike at his very soul. _I vowed to stop murderers and criminals! Now look at me_! _I'm becoming one of them!_

Donnie cast his hurt gaze onto Wolf one last time, his sharp teeth were bared, not in defiance or anger, but to help him cope with the searing pain pulsing through his body.

"I can't do it." Donnie managed to say, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

Then he heard something, what sounded like wheezing. Donnie was so perplexed by the faint squeaking that it took his brain a few moments to register the sounds origin. Looking up through bleary tear streaked eyes he could see Wolf convulsing back and forth with a startling speed.

Panic shot through Donnie at that instant, he thought Wolf might be having a seizure or something of the sort. That's when he heard him take a deep breath and continue, this time his voice was deeper and more whole. Donnie soon discovered that the wheezing was not the last sound of a dieing man but in fact, laughter.

Wolf looked at Donnie with amusement written all over his blood splotched face.

"Of course you can't!" Wolf shouted at Donnie with a sheepish grin. "This is about Squirrel isn't it? Am I right? You saw that kiss."

Donnie tilted his head in confusion and surprise. "How…how did you know?"

Wolf gave another throaty chuckle, "It's not very hard to figure out. That girl's been nothing but trouble for me since we first met." He stated plainly, as if accounting a simple fact rather than an opinion.

Donnie knew that there were more important things on hand but he couldn't help but ask.

"Do, do you love her?" He asked Wolf, swallowing the lump in his throat as he waited for the answer.

"No, I'm getting sick of telling people that." Wolf replied, lifting himself back onto his haunches with a grunt. He gritted his teeth as he could hear and feel the bones in his leg begin to pop and move back into place, allowing him to move the leg freely once again.

"I…I guess all I can do is tell you I'm sorry." Donnie told him, his eyes downcast.

Wolf looked at him with a smirk. "Well in that case." He held his hand out welcomingly. "Apology accepted."

Donnie looked at him in surprise, then smiled and took his hand and shook it. "I…I don't know if she'll ever forgive me for this."

Wolf continued to smile while he said. "Don't worry about it, it's not like she has to know. Besides, it's not like you killed me." He stated warmly, as if the recent battle had done nothing to faze him.

Donnie, despite the pain and self hatred still coursing through his body couldn't help but smirk at Wolf's awkward optimism.

"Not through lack of trying." He told Wolf, beginning to help him to his feet.

Wolf chuckled, Donnie helping to support his weight. "Yeah, you'd be getting an A for effort on that one."

Donnie only smiled as he aided Wolf in returning to his home. Together they both walked to the quiet corner on the edge of Coney Island where the tiny apartment building that was his abode.

A few minutes after entering the building Wolf opened the door to his and his sibling's apartment and the pair walked inside, a large shaft of light siphoning into the pitch black room from the hallway, illuminating a small portion of the room.

Approaching the couch, that was somewhat dirty and stained with things no human being had the brain capacity to describe, Donnie laid Wolf down with a grunt.

Gritting his teeth against the pain Wolf pulled his shattered leg onto the couch and rested it on a cushion. He hadn't noticed his head loll back or his vision fade. The only thing that he knew was that he shut his eyes once, when the sky was still black, and when he opened them again that the first light of dawn had begun to peak over the buildings and the sounds of cars speeding by awoke him from his slumber.

Forcing one of his bloodshot eyes open Wolf gazed around the familiar confines of his apartment, the familiar surroundings creating a comforting feeling for him. Sitting up he began to notice that the pain that was once pulsing through his damaged leg had long since vanished. Allowing him to once again move it freely and without discomfort, reluctantly lifting himself off of the soft cushions of the couch he began to head off to the bathroom. Pulling off his bloodstained clothes along the way, the blood from the previous night that coated his clothing had hardened and begun to stick to his fur. Matting it down and creating an irritating sensation of feeling as if he was being pressed against by a stranger.

Stripping down to his bares he stepped inside of the small square in the blue tile bathroom and braced himself for the cold he knew was going to bombard him as soon as he turned the faucet. Taking in one short breath and flipping the faucet he shivered and nearly leaped back as the icy water struck his chest.

Wolf had a serious issue with showering in his own home. He preferred to shower at a friends, or Tanya's. Due to the fact that since his own family was so short on money that it was startling they had running water at all, they couldn't afford to pay monthly for a luxury like hot water. Wolf quickly scrubbed the crimson out of his fur and soaped his body down as quickly as he could, taking special care to use double the amount so the smell of blood would be heavily covered by the pungent aromas of shampoo. Darting out of the freezing waters he made a dash towards the living room closet. Chattering due to his freezing bones he quickly threw on some clothes.

A gray tee-shirt, a new pair of boxers, some Levi's brand name jeans, and his green jacket,

Now fully clothed and finally beginning to warm he stepped towards the phone. While reaching for the small gray receiver he spotted, out of the corner of his vision, a small yellow note.

_Josh,_

_For Wolf and Rose, I just want both of you to know that the bills showed up today. I managed to get our rent held off for another week but we won't be able to pay the electric bill or water bill for a while. So you might want to make plans to shower somewhere else for the next month or so. I ask if either of you have any spare cash help me out for once leave it on the counter._

Wolf darted his eyes around quickly, noticing a twenty dollar bill sitting next to the letter. No doubt left by his sister who had, once again, disappeared in the debt of night with Lucy on some other random escapade. That would probably lead to Wolf having to bail them out of trouble once again.

Wolf took this moment to survey his own wallet, which was only populated by a buck fifty and seventy-five cents. Finding himself conflicted to either leave the paltry sum for his brother, or to grab a quick bite to eat. After fiddling with the spare change Wolf heaved a heavy hearted sigh and threw the cash onto the countertop. Before heading out to work on an empty stomach.

Josh took a single deep shuddering breath, the oxygen filling his lungs and loosening his tense limbs, the bulky rifle in his hands feeling like an extension of his body, of his mind, of his soul. Repositioning the gun on his shoulder he shifted the red dot in the center of the scope onto the forehead of a wooden cutout of a man in a leather jacket with a gun in his hand. He took one last deep breath, before shutting his eyes and pulling the trigger.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The bullet sped from the barrel and exploded into the head of the wooden man, shattering the entire top half of the wooden entity in a shower of wood and splinters.

Finally exhaling the air in his lungs he pulled his head back from the scope and admired his handiwork. While simultaneously pulling back on the bolt of the high powered sniper rifle, smirking to himself as he heard the beautiful sound of the metallic casing of a shell well spent hit the dirt with a clank. Allowing sound to flood into his ears once more he could hear the crowd behind him go crazy with applause and cheering.

A sudden buzz could be heard over the range as the announcer turned on the microphone in his little white booth and began to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner! Mister Josh Sakamoto has once again won the annual Coney Island shooting competition! Landing a headshot on the final championship shot on a target of five thousand feet away! Using only one bullet with the fifty caliber rifle he has once again taken home the title, Coney's Top Shot! We hope to see you all again next year and have a fine day."

Josh puffed out his chest with pride as he strode away from the shooting rang, once again the victor. The pride he felt was unimaginable and he couldn't help but give a curt smirk at all of the disgruntled veterans that had returned to try and best him at the shooting contest this year. All of them shouldering their rifles and swearing under their breaths.

He wore his smile all the way to the announcement booth where he signed the certificate declaring him the victor to the tournament once again.

"It was good to see you again mister Sakamoto, just sign here…and here and then your golden pistol of victory will be delivered to you within the week." The announcer told him as he picked up the small ball point pen on the table and wrote his name in cursive on the parchment.

He smiled at the thought of owning a golden pistol, the shooting range made it seem much cooler and higher of an honor than it really was. In reality it was just a nine millimeter with a fancy paint job. But that didn't stop him from feeling glib, and excited to hang it on the wall next to all of the other prizes he had won from the shooting range. And for a moment, lost in the sweet sensation of victory his troubles were forgotten. Little did he know that they were soon going to crash down around him.

Passing through the energetic crowd all funneling out of the shooting range, half heartedly acknowledging the praise and claps on the back from the mass of individuals that noticed him from the competition.

"Great shot!" "Way to go!" "Your one hell of a shot!" These were all things he heard as he shouldered his way through the crowd. He once again felt that swelling of pride in his chest, a welcoming change from the fear and doubt that usually resided there.

Josh was so caught up in all the praise and glory that he failed to notice the three shady looking men following him from behind.

As he rounded the corner he bumped into someone. Backing up a little bit to see who it was he collided with, his throat tightened and his hands suddenly became fists.

"Oh, there you are Josh. I've been wondering where you kept disappearing off to." The man in front of him said, the calmness of his voice misleading to his true intentions.

"Oh hey…sir, yeah I just like to go down to the range every once and a while." Josh told the man, trying to keep his voice level.

The man nodded. "I suppose every once and a while means every day your rents due? Right?" The man replied, his voice taking a slight edge, causing Josh to instinctively take a step back.

Just to bump into another two even more menacing looking men behind him, both at least taller than him by a head and shoulders, their muscles bulging out from underneath their shirts. One of the men had broken teeth and crossed eyes, and he reeked of onions and stupid. The two suddenly seized him by his arms, rendering him defenseless.

"Let's have a little meeting in my, 'office'." The man in front of him said. His posture and facial expression no longer attempting to hide the threat disguised behind the monotone voice he used as he motioned to the alley conveniently located next to them.

Every bone in Josh's body told him to flee, though when he began to pull away the grip of the two men behind him brought reality back into his mind. The pain they sent rushing through his shoulders only an appetizer of what was to come.

The two men drug him into the alley where the man in the checkered suit and fancy hat began to deliver the pain.

Josh gasped as a fist collided into his stomach, sending the air flying out of his lungs. He could both hear and feel the distinct snap of bone as his rib cracked. The two men holding him let their grip loose for a moment, allowing Josh to slip out of their grasp and to the hard concrete underneath him. Coughing and wheezing do to the shock of losing all of his body's supply of oxygen. He lifted his head just long enough to see the heel of a fancy shoe crash into his face, the force of the blow gashing his face open and throwing him backwards.

The man in the checkered suit stood over him menacingly, his crooked smile becoming permanently etched into Josh's mind.

"Stand him up!" The voice of his torturer rang in his mind.

Josh grunted as he felt the same two big hands grab him by the shoulders once more and brought him to his feet. He slumped against the two men's arms and his head lulled forward, hiding his broken face from the view of his abuser. The drops of blood from his broken face spotting the ground below him. He felt the checkered suit man grab the back of his head and pull, forcing Josh to look him in the eye.

"All right Josh, now that we have the formalities out of the way it's time I teach you to never be late on your rent again. Then when I'm done with you I might just take that sister of yours for a ride." The man added with a sneer, causing red hot hate to boil inside of Josh's body.

He struggled against the iron grip of the two men behind him, lashing out with a growl and intent to kill, his anger overpowering his common sense.

"You son of a bitch!" Was only the beginning of the insults he was going to say, but another fist slamming into his stomach reminded him of his place.

The man grabbed the back of Josh's head once again, tugging on his fur viciously to ensure he remained conscious.

"Now now Josh, I'm fairly certain you're the dog here. If anybody has a bitch for a mother you seem to be the most likely candidate." The man gave a brief chuckle at what he thought was an incredibly witty bit of slander. "But while we're on the topic of your mother, I'm pretty sure she was a whore to."

Josh curled his lip in anger, he felt like leaping on the man and biting a hole in his face, but do to his predicament had to settle for lobbing a wad of bloody spit into his left eye.

Josh smiled at himself, satisfied with how he had managed to display his defiance. The man wiped off his face in a panic, as if unaware of what had actually hit him. As soon as he discovered the truth he began to stare at Josh with a fire in his eyes.

The man opened his mouth as if to say something, but was too dumbfounded to come up with something even partially insulting, so he decided to let his fist do the talking. He began to pull his fist back in a blind rage, when he heard the distinct click clack of feet approaching. Looking behind him to see who would even think of interfering with his personal business he was surprised to see a man in an camouflage jacket with matching pants, the faint glow of a match held up to his face causing an ominous orange glow to show his features. Lines of age creased the strangers face, a dark grey beard that matched his short, straight, well kept hair, though the dark grey of the man's hair may seem like that of an old man the stranger before him still had quite a youthful appearance, his body lean and muscular, his eyes keen and wary, and his body tense and always at the ready.

"Hey, get out of here old man!" Josh's attacker shouted, trying his best to sound as tough as he could.

The stranger just continued to light his dark brown cigar, as if he hadn't even notice the group of people in front of him. Finally igniting the stick of tobacco he tossed the lit match to the ground carelessly, he took one long unworried drag from his cigar before letting out a large plume of smoke and staring at the group before him with a glare that would turn fire into ice.

"Now I'm pretty sure that this isn't an even fight." The stranger's deep masculine voice emanated in Josh's ears.

Straining his already blurry and pained vision he widened his eyes in shock as he placed the man before him.

"General!" Josh croaked, unsure if his eyes were sending his brain the right transmission.

The general cast his glance over to Josh; a smirk crawled across his face.

"Good to see you again Josh, these guys aren't giving you any trouble are they?" The general asked, the sarcasm thick in his voice.

Before Josh could even utter a reply the man in the checkered suit stepped forward.

"Hey old man, I told you to get out of here." The man's voice arrogant and foolish, he clearly had no idea who he was messing with.

The general took another long drag from his cigar before calmly responding.

"Now listen to me boy, I was in Vietnam gunning down fifteen year old boys when you were still having your mom clean the crap outta your pants." He took another puff before pulling the cigar from his mouth and deliberately blowing the thick grey smoke right into the man's face. "I've gunned down more men than you can count and I've seen more death than you could possibly imagine." His voice suddenly took a sharp edge. "I've put over a hundred fools like you in the ground; I've got no problem making it a hundred and one."

The man in the checkered suit swallowed hard, unsure of how to react.

"I…I'm gonna give you one last chance to get out of here. Or…I'll…I'll" The man began, doing his best to keep his voice level and threatening, needless to say, he wasn't doing a very good job.

The general curled his lip back in a sneer, when he looked at this individual he saw not a man, he saw a worm. And the simple fact that people like this existed, was enough to make him sick.

"You'll what?"

"We'll kill ye'!" The stupid man holding onto Josh's left arm piped up, his pronunciation a direct reflection of his brain capacity.

The general looked at the dumb man, then to the suited man. His face was complacent; he puffed on his cigar one last time, before he tossed it to the ground.

"You know, do you guys ever get the feeling," He moved his foot over the still burning cigar, the bud still causing a slight plume of smoke to rise from the ground. The oily black smoke seemed to curl around his boot like a snake, as if it were a living thing. "That you just," he crushed the cigar with his heel, grinding it into the dirt with a calm rhythm. "Messed with the wrong person."

It happened so fast, that Josh was surprised at how he had, somehow, observed it in such crucial detail.

The general reached into his coat pocket and retrieved his revolver; spinning it around in his hand with startling finesse he gripped it by the barrel. Before the man in the checkered suit could react the general brought the grip of the gun straight into his nose. The man flew backwards landing on the hard cement with a thump, he screamed and clutched at his now shattered nose while blood bubbled out and began to flow over his hands and onto his designer suit, staining the white checkered parchment with bright crimson. He quickly, if clumsily, scrabbled to his feet and began to bounce up and down in pain. He looked around through tear streaked eyes and was surprised to see his two thugs still standing in the same place they were before.

"Well!" He shouted in distraught anger, his voice slightly muffled because he still had his hands over his face to stop the profuse bleeding of his broken nose. "Get that bastard!"

Both of the thugs exchanged bewildered glances before stepping forward menacingly, allowing Josh to slump to the ground.

Quickly spinning the gun around once more he pointed the deadly, and now slightly red, barrel in their direction.

Now even this was a simple enough gesture to get the two rather unintelligent thugs to stop dead in their tracks.

"Now I suggest you just hold it right their big guys." The general said. "Unless you want me to put a bullet in both of your heads and watch what little brains you've both got drain out onto the pavement." The click of the action on the gun could be heard as he pulled it back, as if to emphasize his point.

The biggest of the two, the one that smelled strangely of onions, turned to the checkered man with a bewildered look on his face.

"Uh boss, I think we should leave this guy alone." His deep booming voice stated.

The man looked at his hired help, then back at the general with a menacing glare, before running through the back alley in fear, his two thugs trotting sluggishly behind him.

The general released the action on his gun and placed the revolver back into its rightful place in his jacket.

Josh had, by now, managed to catch some of his breath. He forced himself onto his knees with a grunt and a grimace and stared around through blurry eyes. He couldn't do much but just sit in one spot, mostly because even the simplest of movement nearly made him scream in pain.

"You okay son?" The general asked his voice sincere as he helped Josh to his feet.

Josh gritted his teeth as he leaned against the building made of hard brick behind him.

"Aside from getting the hell beat out of me? Yeah I'm doing just fine." Josh replied sarcastically, his voice coming out a little more cross then he intended.

The general waited a moment for Josh to catch his breath, he occupied his time by lighting another cigar.

"Hey, thanks for helping me." Josh told him, a little calmer and more relaxed due to the fact that he could breathe again. "Those guys are always giving me trouble."

The general frowned and pulled his cigar from his mouth, waiting a moment before speaking. "So this happens often?"

Josh felt his face burn; he didn't like talking about his problems, especially with a stranger. For a moment the general thought he might not reply, but when he did his voice was little above a whisper.

"…yeah…"

"Why do they do this to you?" The general asked, letting the thick smoke flow into his lungs as he took a drag.

"I owe them a lot of money I guess." He replied coolly, his voice surprisingly level.

"Really, is that all?"

Josh curled his lip, his ribs sending some pain shooting through his body.

"Well, now I think they just do it for sport. I thought they'd given up on beating me just for my debt."

The general scratched his stubbly beard, as if in thought. Before frowning and reaching into his back pocket. He retrieved a small white check book and a small ball point pen; he quickly began to write on the small piece of parchment.

"Well this should help you out." He tore the thin paper from the book and held it out for Josh to take.

Josh looked at the paper, and then at the general, as if unsure what he should do. Eyeing the general as he grabbed the parchment he squinted his eyes to read the small, hand printed labeling on the check. When his whole face registered in shock, the general smirked at Josh's expression.

"Fifty thousand, are…are you serious?" Josh opened and shut his eyes again and again, thinking he might be seeing things.

The general smiled. "Ha, yeah I'd go through all that trouble of saving you and writing you a check like that just to pull a prank on you."

Josh cradled the parchment as if it would burst into flames if he wasn't careful, making his small fortune disappear forever. "How…how can I ever repay you for this?"

The general began to walk away, not saying anything. Then, he pulled his cigar from his mouth, knocked off the ashes, and replied. "You know what I want, I just hope that this will help you decide."

He placed his cigar back into his mouth and left, leaving Josh, once again, alone with his thoughts.

Eight hours earlier, underneath the sewer tunnels of Manhattan, a tired and distraught Donnie slowly made his way home, pulling open the steel door that led to his and his brother's underground hideout. Slowly shutting the door behind him he stepped into their makeshift living room.

The sound of his brother Mikey snoring once again passed out on the couch, a gaming controller in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other, and the bright light of the TV, a bright game over screen still flashing.

Donnie quickly tip toed to his room, when, he heard what sounded like quiet sobbing from the inside of his room. He gently pushed the door that led into his room open, his eyes widened as he saw who the source behind the mournful sound was.

"Squirrel, is that you?" He asked, keeping his voice no louder than a whisper.

Squirrel's head was in her hands, her fancy white dress was ruffled and dirty. She looked up through her tear streaked eyes, her dark eyeliner stretching down her face, her tears causing her makeup to run. She opened her mouth to speak, but seemed to choke on her tears, making the words she wanted to say unable to come out. Instead she let her body do the talking, running towards her turtle and throwing her arms around him. She began to gently sob into his shoulder.

Donnie was so startled he nearly pulled away, unsure of how exactly to react. Though his legs were firmly rooted to the ground, making it impossible for him to move, his heart was beating a mile a minute, after a few minutes he finally managed to say something.

"Squirrel…what's wrong?"

Squirrel gave a sad sniff before responding. "Donnie…am I a…slut?" She nearly choked on the word.

Donnie was so surprised by the question he almost forgot to reply.

"Squirrel, look at me" She gazed at him with teary blood shot eyes. "of course not, you're the farthest thing from a slut. You're kind, beautiful, and wonderful in every way. What made you think of something like that?"

Squirrel sniffed a couple a few more times, unsure if she should tell the truth or not, looking away, unable to meet his soft gaze she replied.

"Tanya, while we were on the cruise she confronted me. She yelled at me, said I was stealing her man away from her, then she hit me."

Donnie pulled away slightly, appalled. He wasn't sure if he had actually heard her correctly.

"Tanya, you mean Wolf's…"

Squirrel only nodded. "That's not even the worst of it. Wolf came out; he saw us and confronted Tanya about her actions. She ended up running away in tears, Wolf he…he didn't even look at me…he just walked away like I didn't even exist." The tears began to flow again. "Oh Donnie, is that what I've been doing? Turning couples against each other. And Wolf he'll never forgive me for what I've done."

Donnie gave her a gentle smile, and wiped off her tears. "Squirrel, you would never, and I mean never, do something as evil as that."

Squirrel smiled a little at his touch, she savored the feeling. "But what about…"

"Wolf would never hold you responsible for one of his problems, I know him better than you think, meaning he's more forgiving than he might seem."

Squirrel smiled, her tears finally fading. "Donnie, you're the greatest friend I've ever had."

Donnie embraced her once again, his face fading from a wide smile to a slightly disappointed expression.

_Friend._ He thought with a half hearted chuckle. _I guess that's good enough._


	12. Chapter 12

Donnie gently laced his arm around the waist of the slender squirrel he held in his arms. He felt her cherry red lips press against his as she wrapped her arms around his neck. They tussled on the bed in a heated make out session in a haze of lust and love; they broke off for need of oxygen. Donnie pulled Squirrel close as he gasped in and out as he tried desperately to get some air into his lungs. He smiled as Squirrel drew herself up, gazing at him with a loving smile; he gazed back with a chuckle as he felt her hand gently caress the side of his face.

"Squirrel…I love you." He told her, responding to her touch with a blush, he could barely believe he had actually managed to say it. It had been weighing on his tongue since the first moment he had seen her.

"Oh Donnie…" her voice was like that of an angel, and he could feel his heart begin to thump against his chest as she leaned close, her warm breath in his ear. "…a fifty percent chance of rain." Donnie did a double take, the oddness of Squirrel's reply catching him off guard.

"Wha…what?" He stuttered, unsure of what she meant. She leaned close again to whisper in his ear.

"This is Z one oh two point five with your early morning wake up call. So get up sleepy heads shake off those dreams and smell the coffee because it's Monday and time for work."

Donnie jolted up in his bed with a start, beads of sweat sticking like heavy raindrops to his forehead. He rubbed his sleep heavy eyes in a slow and unenthusiastic swipe of his hand. It took him a second to realize the voice in his head wasn't coming from his dream, but the screeching of an annoying dj from the alarm clock to his right. Giving the small black box an irritated smack he lay his head back down onto his soft pillow and tried to recapture his dream, hopefully without the awkward converse this time around. But after a few fitful moments of drifting in and out of consciousness, Donnie found it futile and roused himself from bed.

As he swung his feet over his bed the memory of last night drifted back into his troubled mind. He remembered his brutal assault on Wolf, and still had trouble coping with the fact that he had almost done what he thought as unthinkable. Wolf was, surprisingly forgiving however, bursting out into strange…almost creepy laughter once the fight was over. Despite losing overzealous amounts of blood Wolf had managed his way home and had managed to shrug off the whole ordeal as if it was a nightly occurrence.

_He certainly is a strange kid. _Donnie thought, Wolf was, in short one of the strangest and most complex people he had ever known. To most Wolf's strange social quirks and quick wit would push most average people away. But Donnie however found him, for lack of a better word, positively intriguing. To Donnie Wolf was a puzzle to be solved, a question that needed an answer, Donnie figured at one point or another he would spend more time with him, though that was far from the most prominent thing in his mind.

His thoughts continuously drifted back to Squirrel, and how she had come to see him when she had been crying.

_She came to see me. _He thought with a smile, _out of everyone she could have talked to she picked me. That MUST mean something. _He felt his heart flutter at the memory, that night was the first night he had held the girl he liked in his arms, her soft fur pressing against his body was a feeling he would never forget.

After a few minutes of dwelling over the fond memory he tore himself out of bed, Squirrel still heavy on his mind.

Squirrel gave a large and wide yawn as she sat hunched over her lab table, musing over her next planned technological advancements and scientific experiments. She could feel weariness gently begin to smother her like a blanket, last nights events taking more out of her than she initially thought. Pushing the feeling of fatigue out of her mind she returned diligently to her work. Though, no matter how much she attempted to get rid of the lingering feeling of exhaustion it had crept up and subdued her with ease.

She had been 'resting her eyes' for nearly twenty minutes when she heard the distinct buzz of her cell phone ringing on silent, her experiments occasionally involving volatile chemicals, so she often turned her phone off or on silent in order to keep it from startling her. She had actually forgotten to do that once not to long ago, which certainly held some, 'explosive' results.

Wiping the sleep from her eyes she reached for the pink receiver and placed it against her ear.

"Hello?" She asked, doing her best to sound awake.

"Hello, Squirrel is that you?" A deep voice on the other end of the line materialized a thick Canadian accent prevalent in his enunciation.

"Ezekiel," Squirrel asked, her fatigue suddenly dropping. "Is that you?"

"Yep, just thought I'd give you a call eh, pop in and see what was happening eh."

"Oh, it's good to hear from you Ezekiel. What's up?" Squirrel asked, glad to hear her friends voice once again.

"Not much, just thought I'd give you a call eh, we heard you might be going home soon and I wanted to call and check eh."

Squirrel sighed as she thought back to her inevitable return to the Valley, it was true that she still had a month or two before her planned leaving but, as they say, time flies.

"Well, I've still got a little while before I head home…but."

Squirrel could hear Ezekiel's tone shift on the other end. "What's wrong eh?"

Squirrel waited a brief moment before responding. "Don't get me wrong, I'm eager to get home and see everyone…but I know I'm going to miss all of my friends." She finished sadly.

"Oh…well you can always visit eh, just because your going home doesn't mean we'll never see each other again eh."

"Yeah," Squirrel replied with a hint of a smile. "I suppose your right, but it just won't be the same being so far away."

"I hear yah eh, but cheer up eh. There's no sense worrying while you still have some time around here eh." Ezekiel said, attempting to shed a little bit of light on the situation.

"I guess your right Ezekiel, so what else do you want to talk about?"

Squirrel and Ezekiel had continued to chat for another hour and a half, each enjoying hearing the voice of the other, it had been some time since Squirrel had been able to speak with Ezekiel, not since she had left the set of TDI a reality show that she had taken part in quite some time ago.

Meanwhile Donnie was making his way to the kitchen to get some coffee in hopes that the caffeine would aid in restoring some of the energy he had lost the previous night, and to maybe dine on a little bit of left over pizza.

Upon rounding the corner he could spot all three of his other brothers lounging about the makeshift living room that they had long since set up, each doing their own thing. Mikey was playing a video game of some kind, the bleeps bloops and bright flashes bouncing across the screen helping to confirm that fact. Raphael was beating on a punching bag a few feet away, the rhythmic thumping of his fist against leather filling the air. And on the opposite end of the room, his brother Leonardo was reading through a book of martial arts and sword techniques.

He was in the middle of filling his cup with coffee when he heard the distinct creak of Squirrel's door opening and the clip clap of her shoes as she walked across the stone floor, approaching the kitchen.

She moved across the room with a quiet grace, simply catching a glimpse of her caused Donnie's heart to thump wildly and uncontrollably against his chest. As soon as she stepped into the light the beam seemed to meet with her golden fur and hair, giving her an almost angelic appearance. She looked up at him with a smile, and for a moment Donnie felt like he might faint.

"Hi Donnie," She said, her voice faint, upon Donnie's closer inspection she had something cradled in her arms, holding it as if it was a priceless treasure.

"Is…something wrong Squirrel?" Donnie asked with concern etched into his eyes.

"No….I just, well I have something for you." Squirrel held out her hands, revealing the object she held in her hands.

Donnie was perplexed, what Squirrel held seemed more or less insignificant. A small computer memory card of sorts, Donnie had seen them before, you stored things from one PC onto the card, then you could take it with you and transfer the data onto a different computer. Not really understanding why this was so precious to her he took it with a confused look. He held the card up to the light to study it a little closer.

"Uh…what is it?" Donnie asked with a smile, even though he didn't know what it's purpose was but any gift from Squirrel was a gift to treasure.

"Well…Ezekiel called this morning and it kind of got me thinking, I really don't have a whole lot of time here before I return to the Valley, and I knew I was going to miss you...uh and your brothers." Squirrel quickly added, once again hiding the feelings that had been tugging on her heartstrings since both of them had first met. "And….I really wanted something for you guys to remember me by, so….I dug through all of my computers files and took every special moment we had photographed, plus a little something special, so I put it on that card and well you know the rest." She managed to say, keeping her gaze averted and trying to hide her blush.

Donnie felt his heart begin to beat once again and that familiar red sensation return to his cheeks. _A little something special, _he couldn't stop repeating the words in his head, and he could only imagine what she meant.

"Wow Squirrel….thanks, I can't really tell you how much this means to me." Donnie replied, gazing at the little computer piece with newfound wonder.

Donnie's words brought a smile to Squirrel's face, as they had a tendency to do.

"Well, I'll be the first to admit that I kind of just threw it together, but….I hope you like it."

Donnie gave a nervous smile back at her. "I know I will, can I uh, get you some coffee?" He offered while placing the memory card in a secure section of his shell.

Squirrel rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, displaying her exhaustion. "I would love some."

Squirrel and Donnie sat across from each other as they engaged in some small talk. Each enjoying the others company, more than either would be willing to admit. It was in the middle of this when Squirrel's phone gave a single loud beep, virtually shattering the atmosphere that had begun to surround them.

Donnie watched with interest as Squirrel's eyes widened as she checked the new message left on her phone.

"Who is it?" He asked.

Squirrel continued reading the message with interest. "It's…Meg." She responded rather absentmindedly.

"The girl from Quahog you told me about?"

"Yeah, she just told me it's her birthday. It's been so long since I've seen her I nearly forgot." She replied, her fingers quickly darting across the surface of her phone to type out a reply.

"Do you plan on getting her a present?"

She looked at him with a smile. "Well of course I do silly, though it'll probably be a little expensive."

"How expensive?"

"Well that depends on how much the dealership decides to charge."

"Dealership," Donnie echoed "Your going to buy her a car?"

"Well, it's not like her _family_ is going to get her one." She uttered the last sentence with a more than obvious hint of resentment.

Squirrel's distaste for the Griffin family had been omnipresent since her first encounter with the dysfunctional group. She had grown attached to the only daughter of the group some time ago, viewing her as a sister of sorts at the least. And the way that the rest of her family treated her….for all intents and purposes…made her sick.

"Are they really as bad as you make them sound?" Donnie had heard the stories before, but he still occasionally had trouble believing them.

Squirrel thought back to just a few of the things her family, her father specifically, had done in the past to purposely hurt and embarrass his daughter. The worst of all being when her father had actually shot her, on purpose, with a pistol he had bought last night. Not to mention her father wasn't above hitting her in public when she spoke or did something she didn't agree with.

"Yes, they are…believe me when I say that. I really wish I could see her more often, get her away from her family for a while."

"Yeah….she sounds like a nice girl, it's a shame that such good people can be put in such terrible positions in life."

"Yeah…"

"When are you going to go and buy her a car?" Donnie asked eager to get off the topic of Meg's abusive family.

Squirrel heaved a heavy hearted sigh before responding, she really wanted nothing more than to go to bed and get some sleep, the caffeine from her coffee doing little to hide the weariness that had long since seeped into her bones.

"I suppose the sooner the better." She quickly downed the rest of her coffee for an extra boost. "But I'll have to stop at the bank first."

She stood up and began to head towards her room, retrieving a new set of clothes, a purple long sleeved shirt, a new set of jeans and a quick fixing of her hair, returning to it its original luster.

Meanwhile Donnie had watched Squirrel walk off, his eyes tracing after her with true desire. He only snapped back into reality when he felt a distinct tap on his shoulder. Turning his head to see who it was he was far from surprised to find his easily excitable Michelangelo hovering over his shoulder.

"Can I help you?" He asked in annoyance.

"Just wondering what you're looking at." Michelangelo replied with a grin.

Donnie turned his head, hiding the blush he knew was coming.

"N…nothing,"

"Oh really…" Michel quickly took a seat next to his brother, the feeling of smugness following him all the way to his chair. "Sure you weren't looking at a certain female Squirrel?"

Donnie didn't answer, but the nervous shifting in his chair was all the evidence his brother needed.

"You know what I don't get Donnie, you obviously like Squirrel. Am I right?" Michel's voice wormed its way into his mind.

Donnie swallowed hard. "Is it really that obvious?" He asked, his voice shaking.

"Well…you hide it a little better when she's actually around but, you give your fair share of hints."

Donnie gave another nervous shift in his chair and cast another baleful glance at Squirrel's door, hoping she couldn't hear their little talk.

"Donnie, why don't you just do yourself a favor and ask her out, it would probably do you some good to get it off your chest."

"Well….I do like her but, I mean look at her and then, well….look at me." Donnie cast his sad gaze away.

"Oh, so now we get to the heart of the problem. Donnie, I thought you knew Squirrel the best out of all of us. Does she honestly strike you as someone that worries about looks?"

"Well, no, I know she's not as shallow as that. But still, it's not like we can be seen in public together."

"Dude, you are hopeless! Hey Leo, mind helping me out here?" Michelangelo called towards his brother, who was still busily thumbing through his book of martial arts.

"Well, though he isn't _usually _correct, I do believe he is correct in this instance. If you let your fear keep you from your desires, you may never know what it's like to truly be happy." Donnie's brother spoke, never taking his eyes away from his book.

Across the room the constant thumping of fist against leather ended with an agitated growl. The angry stomping of Raphael's feet was heard as he stepped into view, wiping the sweat from his forehead with one hand and popping his other, loosening the stiff joints and bones.

"What are you guys rambling on about?" Raphael gruffly asked.

"Well, Donnie over here flat out refuses that he should just tell Squirrel his feelings." Michel replied.

"Oh, this again, why don't you just ask her out already? You spend all your time with her, your both constantly talking, why don't you just test the waters huh?" Raphael was beginning another one of his rants.

"Listen, will you guys just get off my back." He looked back at Squirrel's door for any hint of movement. "I don't want her to hear."

"Oh really…" Donnie watched as a devious smile crawled across his brother's face. "HEY SQUIRREL DONNIE WANTS TO ASK YOU SOM-'' Michelangelo never managed to finish that sentence.

Donnie had acted quickly, and had managed to clasp his hand over his brother's mouth with startling speed, cutting off his voice and hopefully shutting him up before he caught Squirrel's attention.

He heard a gentle thump against Squirrel's door as she positioned close enough so her voice could be heard through the thick wooden door.

"What was that?" Squirrel shouted back on the other side of the door. Her voice coming out muffled and hard to hear, but it was more than enough to catch the attention of a startled and panicked Donnie.

"Uh... nothing Squirrel, don't worry about!" He shouted back, keeping a firm grasp over his brother's mouth, as he struggled and writhed under Donnie's firm grasp.

He waited a few brief seconds before releasing his brother, after a few tense moments he reluctantly let go of his rambunctious sibling.

"Fine! If you guys shut up I'll tell her about how I feel!" Donnie caved, giving in to his siblings consistent urging.

Donnie was waiting anxiously for Squirrel to return to the kitchen. When she did, and he saw her, he felt that familiar lump return to his throat.

"Well I'll see you guys around, I'm going to make a stop at the bank. Do you guys want me to get anything while I'm out?"

"Thanks for the offer Squirrel, but I'll pass." Leo replied, standing up and stretching his tired arms and legs.

"I'm good Squirrel." That same smile that Donnie knew all too well returned to Michelangelo's face. "How about you Donnie, anything you want to tell Squirrel before she heads out?"

Donnie gave a nervous glance up to Squirrel's face, looking into her eyes he once again saw how perfect she looked, and felt how insignificant he was. He ashamedly looked away, feeling as if he wasn't worthy of gazing upon her.

"Uh….no thanks, I uh…don't really need anything."

Michel gave an exaggerated sigh, but Squirrel didn't really manage to catch it.

"But he would love to see you out." Raphael walked over and placed a firm hand on Donnie's shoulder, giving it a slightly more than firm grip which caused him to wince as the pain jolted through his arm. "Wouldn't he?"

Donnie gritted his teeth against the pain, and he gave a curt nod in response, very clearly taking his brother's hint.

"Oh, well thank you Donnie," Squirrel said, taking Donnie by his hand and leading him towards the door.

"So Donnie, what exactly was it that you guys were talking about?" Squirrel asked, the curiosity having been nagging at her for the last ten minutes.

Donnie felt that familiar burning sensation scratching at his face once again.

"Well…" He thought back to the promise he had made to his brothers. "That was nothing, honestly."

"Oh…alright, so I was wondering if later tonight if you wanted to go and grab a bite to eat with me later tonight." Squirrel said, her own voice coming out a little shakier than usual.

Donnie felt chills race up his spine as the words echoed in his mind.

_She wants to go on a date with me! _ He could barely believe the words, when suddenly a realization hit him.

"Squirrel…you know I can't go out in public."

She turned to him with a soft smile that made his heart race.

"Come on Donnie, I'm a genius remember. I'll figure that out, I always do."

Donnie smiled back at her, before giving off a small chuckle.

"Well, I suppose you are a genius. Whoa look out!" Donnie suddenly shouted, as a bat the size of baseball darted across through the tunnels at a lightning speed.

In Squirrel's panic she stumbled forward, into Donnie's arms and propelling them backward. Instinctively Donnie clasped his arms around her, attempting to protect her from any possible damage she could sustain.

For a brief few minutes Donnie held onto Squirrel as tight as he could, savoring the touch he had only felt in his dreams.

"Uh…Donnie, you can let me go now….if you want." Squirrel uttered, barely above a whisper, in all honesty she didn't want him to let go, and despite the awkwardness of the situation she couldn't help but savor it.

The sound of Squirrel's voice quickly snapped Donnie's mind back into reality. He released his hold on her, allowing her to get to her feet.

"Uh…sorry," Donnie quickly stuttered. " I…just didn't want you to get hurt so I…"

"Donnie, we're uh, at the exit." Squirrel stated, trying to hide her blush before it showed through her golden fur.

"Oh…" Donnie cast his gaze towards the giant steel door which served as the secret exit to the underground tunnel. "Would you look at that?"

Squirrel, pressed the buttons on the small keypad, a loud beep resonating through the air as the door crawled open.

"I'll see you tonight, right?" Squirrel asked, before walking through the opening.

"Uh…yeah, of course," Donnie gave another nervous smile. "And Squirrel uh…I kind of want to tell you…" Donnie searched for the words in vain, before heaving a slight sigh and giving in to his cowardice. "Have a nice day."

Squirrel gave a slight awkward smile in return. "Uh…you too Donnie, you too."

And then she was gone, taking Donnie's heart along with her.


	13. Chapter 13

Joshua forced open the damaged door to his rundown apartment building, shaking off the rain which had begun to sink through his clothes and into his fur, causing him to shiver in response to the steep drop in temperature. Once within the safety and warmth of the shambled building he opened the pocket of his jacket, gently retrieving the folded parchment contained within.

He held the thin paper in his hands as if it was a priceless relic, which to him it practically was. Ensuring that the paper was still safe and secure he once again placed it within the confines of his jacket he began to make the long trek up the filth covered stairs to his apartment, only stopping on occasion to knock bits of garbage out of his way or to gawk at the profane graffiti painted on the walls as he ascended, Which, if nothing else provided him with some interesting reading material as he approached home.

Once he approached the familiar peeling blue paint of his door, and reached out to the rusted doorknob of his home, he stopped short. It was suddenly struck him that he had noticed the familiar bright pink of Lucy's convertible outside, which no doubt could mean only one thing. After a few deep breaths and a moment to steel himself for what unknown horrors might await him beyond that door, he opened it.

"Oh thank god." He whispered to himself, releasing the oxygen he had been holding captive in his lungs as he entered the room and was surprised to see his sister and her girlfriend actually doing something that wasn't sexual for once.

"Hmm what?" Rose lifted her droopy head up from the arm of the couch, rubbing the sleep from her eyes unenthusiastically as Lucy quickly turned her head away from the small amount of light filtering into the musty room from the open doorway, burying her head into the body of her lover.

From what Josh had gathered they had fallen asleep together while watching some cheesy romance flick. Which was something he understood, he could never seem to stay awake through those things either, he guessed it had something to do with the surprising lack of explosions or maybe zombies, after all everything is twice as interesting with zombies and explosions. And he imagined Lucy was here purely because she had become practically glued to Rose ever since the fire incident.

"Oh hey Josh," Rose acknowledged him, followed by an exhausted yawn. "Mind shutting off that light?"

"Yes I do actually." He marched into the room with authority. "As a matter of fact I think we could use a little _more _light in here." He brushed his hand over the wall, when suddenly an explosion of light filled the room, causing the pair to let out more than their fair share of agitated moans. "Now get up, I have something to tell you guys." He walked over to the hallway, leaning around the corner and heading for Wolf's door, ignoring the slew of oh so gracious swears that were dedicated to him and his actions. "Wolf, wake up I have news!" He knocked on the door with surprising enthusiasm.

"Stop shouting! He's not here right now." He could hear Rose shout as he heard the familiar sound of the coffee pot starting up.

"What, then where is he?" He asked as he walked back into the living room.

"He said something about 'working out his anger'; I can only imagine what that means." Lucy told him in-between throaty yawns and flipping through the channels on the TV.

"Great, so he's off with Tanya again then?"

"I doubt that, to tell you the truth I haven't seen her around recently. I hope she hasn't fallen back into her bad habits." Rose began as she took the now filled coffee cup and began to pour the thick dark liquid into a glass. "I swear that girl and her problems are going to get Wolf killed one of these days. But I'm pretty sure I know where to find him."

"Okay great, let's go get him then." Josh began as he started to button up his jacket.

"I don't think so, you've been out long enough, and don't think because I'm sleepy I can't see those bruises on your face." She smiled to herself while taking a sip of her coffee and noticing Josh embarrassingly touch at the sore parts of his face. "Not to mention he made me promise not to show you where he goes to make the bit of money that he does."

"But…" Josh began.

"No buts, you're going to stay here and Lucy and I are going to go and get him, and you're going to order us something to eat, and take a shower. You're starting to smell, shall we say a bit mature." Rose said while topping off her coffee and reaching for her favorite leather jacket. Lucy hopping off the couch and following her like a lost puppy.

She opened the door before turning towards her brother.

"See you soon."

Donatello passed back and forth impatiently, hugging his jacket around him that doubled as a disguise as the rain picked up. Muttering the lines he had been practicing since an hour ago under his breath.

"Okay so when she gets out of the car compliment her dress. But wait what if she's not wearing a dress? Okay, okay if that happens then compliment her body. No no no don't do that you'll sound like a pervert. Um her eyes, yeah compliment her eyes that will work." He checked his watch again, a sudden realization hitting him as he noticed she was over forty five minutes late. "What if she doesn't even show up? No that's crazy don't panic she's just a little late that's all, but don't ask her about it you'll sound obsessive."

In the midst of all his first date jitters he failed to notice the large white limousine pull up next to him and a beautiful squirrel poke her head out the window.

"Well hello there stranger, need a ride?" She asked him with a bright smile and that magnificent voice.

Suddenly Donnie felt his throat tighten and his heart race as all his carefully planned compliments slid into the void. Squirrel couldn't help but laugh as she stared at Donnie's flustered face.

_A cute face, _she thought to herself while suppressing another smile.

"Well are you going to stand there in the rain all day or are you going to get in here?"

Rose and Lucy stood outside of a small rundown building just a couple blocks from home. The sounds of angry shouts, breaking glass, and heavy metal blared through the small barred window next to the small set of stone stairs which led inside the building, which signified that they were indeed in the right place.

"You're brother actually hangs out around here?" Lucy asked with a disgusted look on her face.

Rose nodded in response. "He has impeccable tastes I know." She gave Lucy a mischievous grin. "After you my lady," she waved her arms out politely in front of her, mimicking the act of respect for royalty.

"Oh you're too kind dear." Lucy replied with the sarcasm thick in her voice, doing her best to copy a posh British accent.

There was a loud screeching noise as Lucy pried open the robust steel door which led into the interior of the building. The obnoxious scratching catching the attention of a man across the room, standing next to another rusted steel door. Once Lucy and Rose entered they managed to get a good look at him. He stood in front of both of them with his large muscled arms crossed over his chest. A deep scowl on his face, making the large eagle tattooed on his head look even more menacing than it normally was.

"You have business here?" His deep booming voice resounded out across the room with authority.

"Hey Marik, long time no see." Rose stepped into view.

Suddenly Marik's deep scowl changed to a soft smile.

"Rose! I haven't seen you for weeks, not since your brother became the champ and you both walked away with the pot." He cast his gaze over to Lucy. "And this must be you're…"

Rose placed her arm around Lucy's shoulders. "My significant other," she stated proudly.

Marik gave a smirk. "Ah I see, well your brother's down in the ring right now, if you hurry you might still be able to place a quick bet or two."

"Thanks for the offer but I'm here to talk with him actually, not to make money at his expense."

"Oh come on Rose, you know you want to." Marik tempted devilishly.

"Well, maybe a quick bet wouldn't hurt anything."

"Now that's more like it." He turned and began to force open the steel door he was meant to guard. "Allow me to escort you ladies; boys have been a bit rowdy tonight." He began to start down the filthy stairs which led into the basement.

Rose walked down the dimly lit staircase that she had seen many times. Lucy clung to her unsurely, she had never been anywhere quite so alien to her, and she had refrained from bringing Lucy with her to places like this for this reason in particular. But with her recent behavior she realized it was futile to even bother with attempting to convince her that coming here was a bad idea.

As they neared the end of the stairs the familiar sound of angry shouting and heavy metal music grew louder. And the smell of blood hung heavy in the air, it was almost thick enough to make Rose sick. That's when they were both greeted by the source of the rancid odor and chaos.

A large fenced off dome stood as a lone structure in the middle of a large dimly lit stone room. A single hanging lamp swung back and forth precariously as it provided what little flickering light it possibly could. The aforementioned metal, shouting, and sound of fist crushing flesh and sinew created an almost deafening wave of noise to wash over them.

"Alright, bets are to the right, the shows right in front of you and cookies and coffee are over there to the left."

Donnie sat across from Squirrel nervously in the back of the long stretch limo, sitting across from him with a beautiful smile across her face. He shifted nervously in his leather seat, just sitting across from her causing all of his practiced compliments to fly right out the door.

"You can take that off if you want." Squirrel's voice suddenly caught him off guard.

"You mean this." He motioned to his current disguise, which consisted of the odd combination of a trench coat and fedora.

Squirrel nodded enthusiastically with a soft smile.

"But…won't people notice me if I'm not wearing this?"

"Don't worry about that, where we're going you won't need it." Squirrel somewhat averted her eyes, calculating what she was going to say next. "I…want this to be special." She looked back at him, their eyes locking as they shared a blush. "And I want you to be you….not someone else."

Donnie had to hesitate a moment, barely able to comprehend what he had just heard. He waited a moment to build up his courage, and swallow the lump in his throat before he could respond.

"I…I want that too, Squirrel." He returned shyly.

She looked at him with a heartwarming smile, before she practically pounced onto him. Causing him to fall backwards and cause both of them to tumble onto the floor of the long stretch limo. All words he could have possibly said at that single moment seemed to be washed away under the suffocating sound of his pounding heart. For a moment they just lay there, staring directly into each other's eyes. Captivated, holding each other in a prison made from the bars of hidden feelings and boiling passion, part of Donnie urged him to spell out each and every one of his feelings at that very moment. To finally learn if she felt the same, to be rid of that niggling doubt that had been tugging at his feelings since the day they had first met.

But yet part of him was still frightened, it just happened to be the part of him that seemed to be winning his inner battle. Did she feel the same? What if he did all that and she left? What if he never saw her again?

Thankfully the driver of the limo saved him from his current situation. There was a slight sliding noise as the divider between the front and back seat of the vehicle was pulled aside.

"I hate to interrupt Mrs. Winters, but we're here." A posh British voice drifted into the back of the limo, catching their attention before the divider once again slid shut.

"Um…are you going to?" Donnie began.

"Get off of you?"

He could only nod.

"Not until…." She began to bring her face closer to his. Wait, was she about too…

His heart rate continued to increase. Was she, getting closer?

"Until…." She neared her heart racing and her words getting caught in her throat. It was like a dream, and she figured any moment now she would hear that familiar angry screeching of her alarm clock. But that sound wasn't coming, and she kept getting closer. God she wanted this, wanted it more than anything, but could she. They were so close, so ready, but….she….oh god she couldn't do it!

"Not until you take off this hat!" She rushed the words out of her mouth, before quickly flicking his fedora off and shooting back onto the leather seat of the limo in one quick motion.

"Oh…I still haven't taken this stuff off." Donnie said rather casually, as if he hadn't noticed how close they were. Did he notice, or did he just not care?

Donnie took a moment to collect his thoughts. Were they really just about to do what he thought they were going to, or was it just a fluke.

"Yeah, like I said you don't need it." She said while maneuvering to the door which was being held open by her driver. Eager to be out of the sudden suffocating air of the limo.

"But still if there are people around won't they notice me?" He asked concerned.

"I don't think you'll notice any people out here." She looked back at him, still sitting inside of the limo. "Come on, take a look." She offered her hand to him.

He shakily took her hand in his, savoring the touch as she gently pulled him out of the door. He took one long look around, when his jaw dropped.

"Oh my…" He began, unable to finish the sentence do to the astounding sight before him.

"Impressive isn't it?"

Light, pain, blood, all of these things flashed in his mind. Suddenly pain rocketed through his brain as a fist collided against his head. Cold stone pressed against his side, the thick stench of blood was stronger here. Or maybe it was just leaking from his nose; it was hard to tell through the haze of adrenaline. The figure of his current attacker loomed over him, blocking out the light as the large muscled silhouette stood over him.

"Wolf…that name used to be feared around here."

Heavy fingers suddenly clasped around Wolf's throat, yanking him off of the cold stone floor, tightening around his windpipe threatening to crush it. The blood rushing to his head and pounding in his ears, drowning out everything, yet he could still hear his attacker's mocking voice.

"But it seems like you've gotten soft."

Wolf looked up, his piercing ice blue eyes flashing on the face of his attacker, a deep smirk on his face.

"The hell you smiling about?"

Wolf only responded with a throaty chuckle. "You're about to find out."

Wolf brought his knee up directly into the man's groin, causing the wind to sail out of him and his grip around Wolf's throat to loosen. As the man let go Wolf quickly grabbed him by the shoulders, positioned his foot behind his attacker's legs then slammed his shoulder blade into the man's chest. He then tripped over Wolf's foot and sailed backwards, before cracking his head on the cold stone floor and getting knocked out cold.

Suddenly he was ambushed by a wave of cheering from the crowd. He took a long look around him; the cheering was for him, one of the greatest highs he would ever experience. He raised his fist in triumph and gave the crowd a wide grin, they'd come for a show, and he had given them one that was for sure.

Wiping the blood and sweat off his face he made his way out of the large chain link dome. Accepting his money and somewhat acknowledging the repeated claps on his back and words of recognition. Accepting a bottle of water from his temporary assistant he began to head for the stairs, when he felt a hand on his arm and a familiar voice in his ear.

"Hey brother thanks for making me a quick buck." His sister's voice stood out above the crowd.

He shifted his gaze toward her, her typical half buttoned leather jacket tight jeans making it seem like she was fading in and out of the flickering darkness as the hanging light swung back and forth, it's movement seeming to match the chaotic momentum the basement seemed to be filled with. He noticed that only a few feet behind her stood Lucy, fingering her way through a large wad of bills with a wide grin on her face.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked, raising his voice over the roaring crowd.

"Josh wants to tell us about something." She was nearly forced to shout over the crowd, before giving a passing man a death glare as he drunkenly stumbled into her and over to the bet table. "Listen I'll explain later, but can we get out of here first?"

He gave her a positive nod and the trio started their way up the stairs, the constant noise finally beginning to fade into the darkness, sliding the long steel door out of the way as they exited the basement as Marik congratulated Wolf on his successful return to the ring and asked them to come back soon. As they all left the old building where Wolf and Rose used to spend the majority of their youths he noticed her take one long look at the building before turning towards him with a perplexed expression.

"Man I used to love that place, but now it's… I don't know, just kind of annoying."

"What makes you say that?" He asked her, finding her sudden animosity towards the building odd.

"I don't know, all the noise just kind of gets to me. Especially the music, I mean it's not even music so much as it's a bunch of instruments being banged together through a speaker." She began to walk after him when suddenly she stopped in her tracks and a startled look crawled across her face, like she was struck by a sudden realization. "Oh my god…"

"What?" Both he and Lucy asked simultaneously.

"Wolf….I'm getting old!"

Joshua had just finished getting out of the shower and was sitting on the couch, the T.V was on; some governor was talking about some special task force or something along those lines. It seemed like this same governor had always been going on about something involving crime, he had to be honest when he said that the same governor always came across as a big sissy, but his approval ratings were high and he had won the election for a reason apparently so maybe he wasn't so bad.

No, his attention was focused on the check he held in his hand, studying every single detail and considering how he could put every penny to use. Of course there was more to be had if he was willing to do what the general wanted. Put his life on the line, not to mention Wolf's, he doubted that his younger brother would have allowed him to do this alone anyway. But it still didn't feel right to have his brother walk the razors edge just so they could live a life of leisure. Naturally they'd wire all the money they made to Rose, but he truly wondered if she could be trusted with such a vast sum of cash.

Rose had a hard time acting responsibly with the small amount of money she could make from plundering his wallet while he wasn't paying attention. He didn't even want to know what she might do with fifty grand a month. Maybe he'd come home one day to find that all his money had been carefully invested into a sausage truck.

That's when the sound of the door opening and the sound of his siblings making their way into the apartment caught his attention. He noticed that his brother was bruised and he stank of mischief, he was curious as to what trouble his brother might have been getting up to. But he knew he wouldn't get a straight answer, he never did.

"There you guys are." He spoke, catching their attention.

"Yep here in the flesh." His sister's ever cocky voice greeting him, grating as ever,

"What is it you wanted to talk to us about Josh?" Wolf asked, sitting down on his brother's right, while his sister took the left side of the couch, Lucy placing herself on her lap as they eyed the paper their brother was holding so carefully.

Joshua swallowed the nervousness in his throat. "I think we just might have the answer to our financial problem." He unfolded the crumpled check he held in his hand, showing it off to the prying eyes of his siblings.

"Holy…." Wolf began.

"…Shit." Rose finished.

"Either I got hit in the head really hard, or that check says fifty thousand on it." Wolf stated, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"Well I won't deny that you get hit in the head plenty enough to mess up your eyesight,"

"Very funny,"

"I do my best, but you're right in this case it does indeed add up to fifty K." His brother explained. "And this isn't the last of it but…"

"But what?" Lucy asked while shifting nervously in Rose's lap, ever the cautious one she couldn't ignore the bad feeling in her gut.

"Wolf and I…We'll have to make one hell of a commitment." He answered, giving a nervous glance towards his brother. Who responded with an equally hard stare.

"Josh…what do you mean by 'commitment'?" His brother questioned him, using a tone of voice which made him sound like the elder in the situation. He was obviously displeased about not being told about this earlier.

"Wolf, well how do I put this?" Joshua rubbed the back of his head in thought, thinking of a way to provide a decent explanation to his sibling. "You ever play Call of Duty?"

Wolf sunk back in his chair. He understood the crude analogy Josh was trying to break to him; he threw his head back and gave a mocking chuckle.

"I don't get it, what the hell is Call of Duty?" Rose stated, marveling in ignorance.

"So let me get this straight, we will get paid fifty grand a month to go and shoot a bunch of Russians with a British guy named Soap?" Wolf asked, keeping that sarcastic tone Josh knew all too well.

Josh sighed. "Can't you take anything seriously? Remember when you fought those guys at the bar?"

Wolf suddenly felt a dull throbbing ache in all the old bruises he had sustained from that particular fight. "How could I forget?"

"Well, the guy that saved you was the leader of a special forces group within the U.S. military. Needless to say he was impressed and apparently started scoping us out. When he saw me down at the range it only got him more interested, that's when he gave me this." He waved the paper around, showing it off. "Then he said we had a couple months to decide but…"

"You're not willing to risk your life for something you might not even get to enjoy." Lucy said, barely above a whisper as she vocalized what everyone was thinking.

For a moment both Josh and Wolf were completely silent. Both Rose and Lucy could practically read their minds as both of them sat there in sullen silence. Josh was busy considering his odds of survival in a live war environment, as well as what he would do with the money he would make from his new line of work. While Wolf on the other hand had that face he always had when he was thinking of, who else? Tanya naturally, she noticed that there was obviously a problem between the two the minute he stopped coming home smelling like cheap perfume.

"Forget this." Wolf suddenly spoke, breaking the air of silence as he yanked himself off the couch and started for the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Joshua called after him.

Wolf picked up his jacket off the hanger to the right of the door and began putting it on.

"Out," was his only response as he slammed the door shut behind him, leaving everyone else, in empty silence.

Donnie gazed with his mouth slack in wonder as he laid his eyes upon the astounding sight before him. He could honestly say that in his entire life he had never seen anything more amazing. Both he and Squirrel stood atop a large green hill which overlooked the entirety of New York City, the myriad of dancing lights and colors below him creating an awesome sight against the blackness of the night sky.

"It's amazing huh?" Squirrel's voice suddenly snapped him back into reality, turning his head to look at her he noticed she had a faint smile on her face as she stared out upon the city. Her luscious golden hair and billowing white dress flowing in the wind behind her, giving her the appearance of an angel.

"This used to be my special place, it was where I would come for some peace and quiet before you guys in the sewer took me in."

"It's beautiful." Was all he seemed capable of saying, for all thoughts were lost as he gazed upon her perfect features.

"I used to come here for everything, when I needed a place to sleep, when I was lonely, I even came here to cry when I first heard about dad." A sudden shift in features gave way to the sadness she kept buried deep within concerning her father. The late Max Winters had cared for her like she was his own, and following his mysterious disappearance he knew that it must have taken quite the toll on her emotionally. He began notice the faint twinkle of a tear in her eye as the memory of her father began to flash through her mind.

"Hey, don't cry." He gently pulled her closer, looking into her stunning emerald eyes. He gently wiped away a stray tear from her eye as she began to cry, the memory of her father beginning to overflow. "We're here to have fun; you want this to be special so let's make it special." He wiped away another one of her stray tears. "Okay Lucky?"

Lucky couldn't help but smile sheepishly at the mention of her real name, her sadness falling away as she gazed up at his warm and welcoming smile. "Nobody has called me that in a long time."

He looked back at her, glad to see that her happiness was returning. "I don't see why not, it's your real name after all."

She chuckled a little, Donnie's attempt at trying to cheer her up finally beginning to take effect. When an idea struck her, Donnie wanted to have fun; she knew a way to have fun. She turned her head to look at the suited man who had driven the limo for them today.

He had always been a loyal servant, back when she lived at her father's mansion he had been assigned to care for her. Something which he did with admiral professionalism, however there was no doubting the fact that he had always enjoyed her company. No matter how much he had tried to hide it she had always noticed that faint smirk when he was called upon.

He currently leaned against the limo he was previously driving while thumbing through one of his favorite novels and combing his clean and well-kept brown hair at the same time. Acting as if neither of them was there until he was called upon, she had noticed over the years that he was surprisingly good at tuning outside distractions out. Now whether that came with his job as a personal servant, or if it was something he was just plain good at, she didn't know.

"Jefferson," she stated his name aloud to gain his attention.

He quickly folded the corner of his novel and placed it on the hood of the limo before looking up to face her.

"Yes miss Winters?" He asked with that same flat tone he always seemed to have. Standing up straight and uncurling out his well pressed suit and correcting his tie. Always making sure he looked his best at every moment in time.

"You're good at the violin, aren't you?"

He stood in front of her straight and poised, professional, his face and expression taught as if he was receiving important information from a commanding officer in the army.

"Indeed I am madam; I am proficient in over thirty two different kinds of instruments, including the violin, piccolo, and acoustic guitar.

"That's great; do you think you could set the mood for us?"

"Absolutely mam, give me just one moment to fetch my instrument." And with that Jefferson set off towards the trunk of the limo at a brisk walk, eager to do what he was told.

Squirrel looked up to see Donnie staring back down at her with a confused and worried expression etched into his face.

"Um Squirrel, what exactly do you have planned here?"

"Well Donnie, you said we should have fun." She answered him, that playful tone returning to her voice. "So I thought we could start off this fun night of ours with a little dancing."

She had to suppress a chuckle when she noticed the red slowly begin to color his face, clearly displaying his embarrassment.

"But Squirrel…I can't dance."

"Well then if that's the case." She smiled up at him, eager for what was to come. "I'll just have to teach you."

By now Jefferson had returned with his violin, ready to play when given the signal. He showed this by already having the small wooden instrument placed snugly beneath his chin and ready to create the harmony of sound.

"Okay just place your hands here…" She gently maneuvered Donnie's hands and placed them on her hips, both of them shuddering at the touch they both so desired. "And I'll put my hands up here." She gently wrapped her slender arms around his neck. And for a moment everything seemed to slow down as they found themselves wrapped in each other's embrace, and at that very second they both knew that this would be a moment for them both to treasure for years to come.

"Okay are you ready?" Squirrel's angelic voice seemed to echo in Donnie's ears. He wasn't sure about this whole dancing thing. But he knew that with the woman of his dreams so close, he was capable of doing anything. So he nodded to her with a smile, ready for their dance lesson.

"Alright…and….follow after me." Squirrel said aloud as she and Donnie began their duet, the sweet hum of Jefferson's violin filling the air as they danced with the shining lights of New York City behind them creating a stunning backdrop as the pair began their dance.

Tanya's blood pumped in her ears as the thumping of her heart began to increase at a dramatic rate. She leaned against the door of the small room she was in as a sudden Closter phobic feeling of oppression began to take over her body. She quickly ripped open her purse in an attempt to find the one thing which she knew would fix her body, it fixed everything. Scattering the contents of the cheap leather bag onto the ground and tossing them around until she found her prize. The female leopard clutched the small bottle of pills to her pounding chest as if they held some kind of untold wealth.

She quickly unscrewed the top of the bottle and reached inside to retrieve what she could. Wolfing down the pill in her hand she noticed an instant feeling of relief wash over her body, as the incessant thumping in her head began to slow. But one was far far from enough to quench the thirst she held. She needed more. Quickly Tanya moved to pour the rest of the contents in the bottle onto her hand, but a sudden bolt of worry shot through her as she felt, not the familiar weight of her favorite drug in her hand, but empty air.

"No no no no no!" Tanya began to rasp as she violently shook the bottle in her hands in a desperate attempt to retrieve what she needed, to no avail. Screeching she threw the bottle against the wall and curled up in a ball in the corner of the bathroom she was in, rocking back and forth hysterically from the absence of her poisonous crutch.

_What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? _

Tanya repeated the question to herself within her own mind. She needed her pills; they were the only thing that mattered. But she had no more money, no money meant no pills, and no pills meant no more good feelings, she needed those feelings. That's when Tanya glimpsed the silver of the grip of the gun she kept in her purse for safety purposes. Reaching out for it with a shaking hand she pulled the small weapon closer to her for a better look. Getting a feel to the strange alien like object in her hand she was suddenly stricken with an idea. Flicking off the safety she stashed the gun in a secure pocket and grabbed her purse, before leaving the bathroom and starting for the front counter, where the cash was kept…

Wolf walked along the desolate city street as he contemplated everything his brother had told him earlier in the day. He was suddenly aware of the feeling of an empty pit in his stomach as he realized that he had gone practically the whole day without a bite to eat. Taking a quick look around he noticed one of his favorite convenient stores over on the opposite side of the street. The title of the store displayed proudly above the pair of doors inside. Stop'n Buy, was displayed in bold red lettering on the front of the tiny convenient store, which only caused his stomach to rumble more as he remembered it was Saturday and they would have his favorite pizza ready in the hot food section of the store by now. Hugging his jacket around him as the cold air began to seep into his fur as he started for the door.

Everything seemed to slow down as Tanya approached the front desk, her heart thumping rapidly as she rounded the corner to hide behind a stack of snacks in order to check her gun one last time. Pulling the small silver pistol from its secret confines within her leather jacket she ever so cautiously pulled back on the action of the gun. Her breathing increased when she saw the golden sheen of the bullet within shine as the fluorescent light above shined on the bullet. She froze for a moment when the ringing of a bell broke the stillness in the air, signaling the entrance of a customer. Behind her hiding place she could hear the cashier and customer speak on familiar terms.

"Hey there." The cashier's thick New York accent spoke up in a friendly yet distracted tone.

"Hi Frank, it's good to see you again." Now in any other circumstance Tanya would have been familiar with this voice, but today, at this very moment. She only had one thing on her mind. Hiding behind her shield of Doritos and Pringles she cradled the tool of death in her hand, getting used to the weight, and waited for the stranger she knew to leave the front desk.

"You guys have any pizza left?" She heard the customer ask. "I haven't eaten anything all day and I'm starving."

"Uh yeah, Dave's in the back making one right now, should be like five minutes. You should go talk with him, his dad's been drinking again and I think seeing you might give the kid a boost you know."

"Yeah sure, see you around." She heard the gentle plodding of the strangers feet as he began to walk away.

Taking one last deep breath and placing her free hand over her thumping chest she emerged from her hiding place, pistol in hand.

Wolf walked away from the counter and started towards the back, the smell of grease and cheese on the stove causing his stomach to rumble in desire. Reaching the back of the small convenience store he spotted the young cat behind the stove with a distant look on his face. He figured it was Dave as he neared; there was only one of Wolf's kind that worked here last time he checked. And that familiar colorful Hawaiian shirt of his was always a dead giveaway. The swirling bright blue and purple leaves dancing on the threads always seemed like a strange choice for the tomcat, the bright myriad of colors creating a very stark contrast which quite honestly didn't seem to work for him. But it didn't seem to really matter to him, he wore that shirt every day, no matter what you said about it.

"Hey Dave, what's up?" Wolf spoke, attempting to get his attention.

Dave just continued to do his menial task, completely oblivious to Wolf's presence. It took a moment for Wolf to remember that Dave was deaf in one ear, a defect at child birth.

"DAVE!" He shouted while stepping closer to the small tile tabletop counter that separated the two. Dave gave him a sidelong glance and an absent nod to show that he noticed him before shifting back to his work. When suddenly he snapped up, his eyes wide with disbelief as the presence of Wolf finally registered in his brain.

"Wolf!" Dave left his work for a few minutes and approached the counter, his dark brown eyes lit up with glee.

"Watcha doing Dave?" Wolf asked.

"Oh you know, just working. I had to get away from dad for a while." Dave's smile disappeared underneath a mask of sadness. "He's taken mom's…" he paused for a moment, thinking of the proper word. "…passing pretty hard."

"I heard about that, I'm sorry. It must be hard for you now that she's gone." Wolf said, expressing his condolences. Though he feared that it might have come across as a little insincere, considering how much he already had on his mind he had very little space left for remorse.

"Yeah, thanks. But I'm not the one who's having trouble handling it. My pa has been drinking on and off again for the past three months." He sighed sadly while resting his head on his hands and giving Wolf a melancholy stare. "We all deal with grief differently I guess, but it just doesn't seem like my dad to solve his problems with booze." He gave the stove an uninterested look as he heard the timer ding. For a moment he seemed to think of ignoring it, before heaving a heavy hearted sigh and pulling the door off of the oven and placing the steaming hot pizza onto the counter the scent of the fresh food causing Wolf's mouth to water. "And now that he's lost his job I've had to start pulling double shifts to pay the rent." He began to slice the pizza into different sections, the odor from the melted cheese causing Wolf's stomach to rumble. As if reading his mind Dave pulled a piece from the pie and handed it to him, which he gladly took and wolfed down in three large bites.

"You know you don't have to be pulling double shifts anywhere, if you just go back to school." Wolf began, once again trying to convince the young cat to not make the same mistakes he had.

Dave gave an exasperated sigh as he heard Wolf begin his all too familiar lecture of how school is good' and how he 'should make the best choices' it was all very tiresome.

"Why do you keep going on and on about this stupid school stuff?" Dave spoke in that same arrogant tone that made Wolf want to hit him in the face. "I don't need it to make money and neither did you."

Wolf balled up his fist and felt as if he was going to explode. "At least I managed to get through high school, the only reason I didn't push all the way through to college was because I didn't have the resources!" Wolf raised his voice in anger, the pressure of all recent events finally beginning to overflow. And he was far from in the mood for Dave's arrogance.

He noticed Dave moving his mouth to word a reply, when the distinct explosion of sound, the kind of explosion which could only come from a bullet, shattered the stillness of the gas station. Dave nearly fell over from the sudden shock, and Wolf whipped around quickly, his survival instinct kicking in as he attempted to pinpoint the source of danger.

He managed to catch a brief glimpse of Frank falling backwards behind the cashier counter and a dark blur dashing out the back door. Sprinting forth with a speed he didn't know he had, his heart thumping and his blood burning he dashed to the counter. He managed to catch a whiff of the fresh odor of gun powder as he approached, still fresh and hanging in the air.

"Frank!" He called out, throwing his head over the counter to try and see his friend. "Frank are you okay?"

He noticed his friend was laying on the ground, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at the small bullet hole just an inch away from where he was standing, Frank frantically began patting himself down, subconsciously checking himself for any wounds.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Crazy bitch shot at me!" Frank stated out loud, as if trying to convince himself that the event he just lived through had actually occurred.

That's when Frank's absent gaze finally fixed on him and his stern expression returned as Wolf finally seemed to come into focus. "Well don't just stand there!" Frank shouted so loud that it caused Wolf to flinch. "GO AFTER HER ALREADY!"

Tanya sprinted through the dark alleyways of New York City, her heart and head pounded and her feet ached, but she refused to stop running. She clasped what little of the money she had managed to grab from the register in her free hand. She had only managed to grab a small fraction of what was inside of the register when the cashier had made a daring attempt to grab the gun from her hand, it didn't turn out well. Her breathing grew heavy and she began to sweat as thoughts raced through her head once the consequences of her recent actions began to hit her.

What if she didn't get away? What if she had to go back? No, no no no she couldn't go back! She would never go back!

She picked up the pace as her footsteps quickened, despite the protest of her drug addled and drained body. The increasingly loud sound of sirens behind her adding to her paranoia, and was that…footsteps behind her? Oh god someone was chasing her! She had to get away! She couldn't get caught, not this time!

She rounded a corner and bolted down another dark alley, eager for escape. She stopped suddenly when a large brick wall rose up to meet her. She spun around when her sensitive ears picked up on the sound of plodding feet behind her. She once again became aware of the gun in her hand; she felt that familiar burning in her blood as the thought to use the deadly weapon once again crept into her mind.

"Tanya?" She heard a familiar voice ask, filled with dismay. Tanya's breath caught in her throat as Wolf stepped into the moonlight.

"Wolf…?" Tanya asked, blinking her eyes and stepping back, unable to believe her eyes. "You were the one chasing me?"

Tanya looked at his face, noticing the expression of both confusion and sadness as he struggled to believe the sight before him. For a moment Tanya felt a moment of regret, that single emotion managing to penetrate her shield of panic and addiction, not regret for robbing the store, or for returning to her drug habit, but instead for hurting Wolf. She felt regret for harming the heart of the only man who had ever truly cared for her.

"Tanya…" he stared at her, her dirty matted fur and sunken eyes revealing the truth he had refused to believe. "You've started taking them again, haven't you?"

She didn't know what to say, part of her wanted to collapse in his arms. To have him tell her everything would be alright like he had done so long ago. But yet another part of her was frightened, scared that he might send her back to 'the place'. And there was no way she could handle going back.

He took a couple steps forward, causing her to stiffen and point the gun at him in panic.

"Don't come any closer!" She shouted at him, her voice hoarse and frightened. The gun in her hand quivered and shook as she pointed it at him.

Wolf however seemed unfazed; he stepped forward, as if pretending the gun wasn't even there.

"Tanya…"

"Don't talk to me!" She glared daggers at him, how dare he take her screw ups and try to fix them! How dare he keep trying to help her! Why couldn't he just understand that she was a lost cause and move on! "You just want to send me back don't you? Well I won't let that happen!" She let the wad of crumpled bills in her hand to fall to the ground and steadied the grip on her weapon. "Even if I have to shoot you." And no matter what her personal feelings for Wolf may have been that threat was far from hollow.

"Tanya you need help." He offered her an understanding and forgiving smile as he stepped forward another few steps. "I love you, and I'd give anything to see that you got that help. I care for you." Another step. "The people there they can help you." Another step, she kept the handgun steady.

"Shut up…"

"You can fix this, it's not too late."

"I said shut up." She cocked the gun.

"Please Tanya, let them help you." He continued to move forward.

"Stop it!" Her gun began to quiver as he got closer.

"Let me help you."

"GOD DAMNIT I DON'T NEED THEM AND I DON'T NEED YOU!" Tanya raised the gun, pulled back, and fired…


	14. Chapter 14

Wolf's eyes went wide as the sound of a small explosion filled the air, followed by a slight whistling sound as the nine millimeter round tore through the empty space near his ear.

He stood rigid as a statue, his expression filled to the brim with surprise and fear, warm blood streaming down his face, a crimson river pouring from a cut on his cheek, the blood running free and leaving a red trail down his neck. If she had shifted her weapon even a fraction more to the left the wound would have been fatal. He gently pulled a shaky hand to his face; the feeling of warm liquid streaming through his fingers startled and stunned him. He hadn't thought she was capable of pulling the trigger. He was wrong.

Pulling his shaking hand away with it coated in blood, his mouth opening and shutting again in disbelief as he stared at his crimson palm, then at Tanya, his mouth and mind attempting to form some kind of response to her actions, but when he gazed at his love he saw no anger, no hate, only deep seeded sadness and regret. She held the gun shakily in her right hand threatening to drop the deadly weapon to the ground. Her eyes held firmly shut as she attempted to block out the sight before her, yet that did nothing to halt the flow of tears streaming down her face. Splitting her eyes open only slightly she gazed at the reflection of herself in the shattered glass of a broken window resting idly at her side.

Tanya was barely able to recognize herself as she gazed at the twisted figure that was presented to her within the reflection of the shattered glass. Gone were her beautiful emerald eyes, now sunken in and hollow, her once combed and slick fur now matted and filthy, stained with dirt and who knows what else, her leather jacket torn, stained and covered in the scent of drugs and blood. She thought back to what she once was, and then stared in horror at what she was now, an empty shell, not even a husk of her former self. And Wolf, the one man who had ever cared for her, ever loved her, was staring at her like she had torn out his heart and ripped it in two.

With a unfathomable sadness Tanya bellowed into the sky, falling to the ground and hugging herself tight while sobbing hysterically. Wolf looked on her with forgiveness and pity, stepping forward while wiping the blood from his hand, around him he felt the air grow wet and the smell of water became prominent, it would rain soon.

He stopped only a few inches from her, a scarce few raindrops breaking through the heavy cloud cover and starting to descend from the sky.

"Stay away from me." Tanya managed to warn through her throaty sobs. "I'll just hurt you again."

He waited a moment before uttering a response. Choosing his words carefully, finally, after what felt like ages but was only actually a few seconds he smiled and spoke softly to her. "Tanya, you know I can't do that." He reached his hand out to touch her, to console her. "I want to help you. I love you."

It was raining heavier now, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky at the precise instant the heavy downpour began, as if the rod of electricity itself had torn a hole in the clouds, allowing the water held captive to run free. Wolf could feel the water start to hit and soak through his jacket and fur. The rain beginning to chill him to the bone as the wind picked up. But right now the cold felt distant and far away, Tanya needed his help and he would wait a minute or a thousand years out in the rain if that's what it took to help her be happy again.

Tanya looked up at him with the tears falling from her deep sunken eyes. Curled up in a ball like a frightened child, covered in dirt and soaked to the bone, Wolf took pity on her like he had years ago. He bent down and wrapped her in his arms, as she leaned into his chest and sobbed painfully. The weight of the world falling from her shoulders as she rested in the protective shield of his arms. She cast her gaze upward, his face warm and sympathetic. She couldn't understand how he could be so damn forgiving with her, she couldn't count the amount of times she had betrayed his trust, other men, drugs, jealousy, violence, she had done it all. Yet when she needed him most, he was always there, with that smug smile and forgiving blue eyes.

"Wolf I…" Tanya began, her mind searching for something to say. Something which she could use as an excuse to earn his forgiveness and trust, it was during this moment of thought and safety when a sudden sharp pain shot through her chest, causing her to scream in agony and throw her head back in a howl.

"Tanya!" Wolf called out in surprise as she clutched at her chest in pain, using as much caution as he could muster he turned her sideways and laid her mostly flat upon the rain covered pavement, yet he still gently held her head in his arms. His eyes and hands darted across her body as he searched frantically for the cause of her sudden and surprising outburst.

Tanya attempted to take in a few ragged breaths, her body pulsing in agony as she felt her body begin to shut itself down.

"W…Wolf!" She spoke through gritted teeth, attempting to block out the pain through sheer force of will. "I…I started taking them again." She held the empty pill bottle in a shaky hand, bringing it up for him to see, before her arm seized up and the bottle tumbled out of her lifeless hand and to the ground. "…ran out…that's why…I stole the money."

"Hey don't talk okay." He quickly scooped Tanya's crumpled body up into his arms, his heart thumping as he felt as if he could hear the nerve-wracking _'tick' 'tock'_ of Tanya's life clock as her time for this earth began to float away. "You just relax; we're going to get you to a doctor."

Wolf's voice rang faintly in her ears as she felt a gentle rocking back and forth while he clutched onto her protectively. Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew he was running, running as fast as he possibly could to get her to the emergency room of the hospital a few blocks from here. But the thought seemed distant, like everything else, as they made haste through the rain covered street. The only sound that accompanied them was the frantic beating of her dying heart, and the gentle splashing of Wolf's feet upon the wet cement as he ran.

….….

She began to feel cold as the rain seeped down to her bones. The pain was subsiding now, and she began to feel a calmness washing over her like a cold wave of relaxation. When she thought about it now, dying didn't sound too bad, and it was clear now that her body was beginning to shut itself down. Yet despite knowing she didn't have long left for this world, she was happy. Opening her eyes she looked up at Wolf, the sound of his heavy breathing was accompanied by the feeling of his beating heart thumping against his chest as he rounded the corner of the street, running as fast as he could out of sheer desperation as he sensed Tanya's life beginning to fade away.

"Wolf…" Tanya whimpered meekly against his chest. "When I die, promise me you'll find a girl who deserves you."

"Shh don't talk Tanya; you need to conserve your strength okay." He managed to speak in-between ragged breaths. He could see the shining red light of the giant cross atop the hospital. The burning red glow of the sign gleaming in the distance of the night sky like a glowing beacon of hope. His fatigue seemed to fall away as he continued to bolt across the rain covered street, all he had to do was make it there and everything would be fine….that's all he had to do….that's all….that's all…

"Wolf…promise me." Tanya begged, clutching her bony and weak hand onto his rain soaked shirt, as if physically trying to hold herself to this earth. She felt as if letting go of him would cause her to float up into the sky on angel wings. She knew she was going to die; there was no doubting that fact. All she needed before she could let herself go was to hear him promise to her that he would find someone he truly deserved.

"God damn it Tanya I'm not promising you a damn thing!" His voice was gruff and forceful, catching her attention and forcing her to listen, no matter how bad she didn't want to. "And you know why I'm not promising you anything? Because you aren't going to die, did you hear me?" He gave her a gruff shake to ensure she was paying attention. "I'm not going to let you die! No matter how bad you want it or how hopeless it seems, so long as I'm here I won't let you die!"

She gazed upward at him through hazy and bloodshot eyes. Above her were lights, giant red lights, deep down she knew she had seen them before and she knew they were words. But for the life of her she just couldn't put them together. She was jostled briefly as Wolf collapsed to his knees. His face was contorted into an expression of grief and sadness as tears began to stream across his face in thick rivulets.

"I won't let you die…" He rasped between heavy sobs. "I can't lose you too." He hugged her as close as possible. His fingers digging into her shoulders as he clamped them down upon her, fearing that letting her go would cause her slip from his grasp. "Not like this, I can't lose another person that I love."

Tanya looked at him with a gentle smile, using what little of her strength she had left to hug him back. Bringing her face close to his ear so he could hear her, for she didn't have the strength necessary to speak in anything above a whisper. "Wolf…I want you to know that no matter what happens you can never lose me." She pulled back to gaze into his ice blue eyes, eyes she may never see again. "You will always have my heart." She touched his face one last time, kissed him, "I love you." She managed to utter, before falling into the blackness of unconsciousness.

"TANYA!" He shouted at her, attempting to bring her back from oblivion. Panic gripped him with its icy claws as he felt her heartbeat stop and her blood halt its flow. Looking around frantically he finally realized that he had reached his destination. He was collapsed outside of the hospitals sliding glass doors.

"HELP FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SOMEONE HELP ME!" He screamed as loud as his hoarse voice would allow, catching the attention of a doctor and two nurses sitting at the front desk of the quiet hospital building.

The two nurses were human, an African American male in grey scrubs, and an Asian female with a long black pony tail wearing pink scrubs. Yet the doctor however was one of his own, a beautiful border collie, frizzled and unkempt fur clashed against her brilliant hazel eyes that would shrink the universe if she were to gaze upon it for too long. Had he not been so fraught with grief and panic he might have been able to recall her, but for now all he had on his mind was Tanya, and his hope that she would pull through.

Grace yawned as the coffee pot on the sterile marble counter in front of her began to sizzle. Emptying a portion of its warm contents into the paper cup she had placed beneath it. Picking the cup back up and tentatively sipping at it, before a stray few drops leaked out and stained her white doctor's jacket, leaving another dark brown splotch on the white fabric, providing the dried blood stains a little more company.

"Very attractive Grace," She sarcastically spoke to herself. "Maybe you should just go to the bathroom and smear makeup all over your face and start calling yourself Gumbo, that way you can be a complete clown rather than just half of one." She vented while picking up a few napkins lying next to the coffee pot and beginning to dab herself dry.

She sighed; she had been working so long her patience was beginning to run thin for even herself. Around seventeen to eighteen hours and three emergency cases was about enough to make anyone at least somewhat crabby. As a matter of fact she had gotten so irritable tonight that she had even snapped at Jimmy, her favorite intern, for accidentally paging her rather than Dr. Steiner to check on a patient. Sure it was a very stupid and hard to make mistake, one that probably should garner a decent tongue lashing for anyone dumb enough to make it, but mistakes like that were why she liked the little guy so much.

Suddenly her ears perked up and her heart seemed to stop as shouting from outside brought her attention away from her coffee and to the front door.

"HELP! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

For a moment her mind froze as she seemed to place the young wolf sitting outside somewhere in her head. At first she thought it might have been Josh, the wolf she had been…well, interested in, for lack of a better term. After all there was a clear resemblance, maybe a friend or family member…family member of course! That's what he was; he was Josh's younger brother, Wolf if she remembered correctly. Not a particularly clever name, that was like naming your pet cat Cat, or a dog Dog, just plain silly. The last time she had seen him he was covered in enough burns to impress a piece of charred bacon.

"HELP PLEASE!"

His screams suddenly snapped her back into reality. He was staring at her with eyes that were both begging and filled with anguish, tears poured from them freely and for a moment the sheer volume of the emotions she felt pouring from him almost caused her to cry as well. But having suddenly noticed the injured girl he held in his arms her instincts as a doctor finally kicked in as she bolted across the white tile floor as fast as her feet would allow.

She caught sight of two nurses following her lead. Luis, who was wheeling a stretcher along with him, and Tammy, who was carrying a black first aid bag with her.

Once the sliding glass doors opened for them she felt another pang of sympathy for Wolf as he held the girl's limp and lifeless body gently in his arms, tears falling from his eyes while he spoke to her softly, trying in vain to wake her from her drug induced coma.

"Luis get ready to put her on the stretcher, Tammy go and prep the E.R! And make it snappy!" Grace barked out the order as she motioned to get Wolf out of the way.

Placing her hand on his shoulder she moved her head closer to his, insuring that he could hear her over the wind and thunder from the rain clouds outside.

"Wolf I need you to step aside for a minute okay." She said while trying to forcibly move him away from the girl.

"No I can't leave her." He spoke absently, as if oblivious to the rest of the world, never tearing his eyes away from the girl in his arms.

"Wolf listen to me!" She grabbed hold of his face and forced his eyes upon her. "Wolf I can still save her, she still has a chance; all I need for you to do is stay the hell out of my way and let me do my job!"

Her commanding voice demanded that he listen. His eyes finally focused upon her, as if seeing her for the first time. He looked at her then down at the girl once again, before bending down to kiss her one last time. He gently set her upon the damp pavement; another flash of lightning tore its way through the sky as he did so. He then rose off the ground, his jeans soaked through and his body numb from both the cold and the trauma of losing his lover, then backed away, forced to watch as the doctors wheeled her into the sterile white hospital building, taking her away from him.

And just like that she was gone. He was alone…so alone, he felt the tears pouring from his face again as the reality of the situation caught up with him. He couldn't bear losing Tanya, not after everything they had been through, she couldn't die now…not this way. He quickly wiped his tears away. No, he wouldn't cry over this like a child, he had to be strong. If not for himself then for Tanya, she still had a chance. She was a tough girl, he'd learned that the hard way, deep down he knew she would beat this…she had to.

He desperately wanted to go inside of the hospital and be right at her side while the doctors tried to save her life. But this was going to be the last time Tanya would fall back into her bad habits. He was going to make sure of that…

Joshua suppressed a yawn with the back of his hand, his tail swished back and forth impatiently as his nerves began to grind. He hated lines, about as much as he hated jewelry stores, so considering that he was in a line while at a jewelry store he was about a second away from losing his cool and tearing off the head of the old woman that was holding up the rest of the line with her seemingly endless list of questions. She smelled like cheap perfume that was made to seem expensive, she looked like she was still trapped sometime in the forties due to her sparkling dress and flamboyant purple hat, adorned with pink ribbon and flowers. She also wore an animal skin draped loosely around her neck; he figured it was a fox of some sort. Honestly he found it somewhat offensive. Considering he was a member of the canine family he often considered the fox a cousin of sorts.

That complaint however was miniscule compared to being forced to listen to stupid question after stupid question come out of the old woman's mouth.

"How expensive is this?"

"Does this come in green?"

"What kind of stone is this?"

He sighed again, shifting his attention over to his sister in a vain attempt to entertain himself. They had taken to their newfound wealth pretty much exactly as he expected, with rigorous abuse. He promised them that they could spend two thousand dollars of the check on whatever they wanted so long as they left all the big spending up to him. They'd agreed, however he had been tallying up the prices of everything they had been purchasing the current night, they had gone over budget by around one point five grand.

Currently they were eyeing every single piece of seductive jewelry or article of clothing with a lust like that of a starving child outside of a candy store. They'd presently collected enough shiny rocks and designer clothes to fill over eight shopping bags, and they were still going strong, giggling and prancing about like a pair of eight year olds on the ultimate sugar high.

As for why he was here however, well, all he wanted to do was buy something special for a very special girl. Thinking about her now almost let him forget about how bored he was. Those eyes…he didn't think that he would ever forget those shining eyes, or that sweet sweet smile of hers. Grace…he never thought that he had ever heard of a more fitting name for someone so amazing.

"Mam I've been standing here for over twenty minutes, I just got off a plane from Shanghai, walked all the way across town, my feet hurt and I have to go to my daughter's birthday in fifteen minutes. Do you think you could speed things up a little bit?" A disgruntled man with a fine blue suit spoke to the old woman at the front of the line, doing a poor job at hiding how annoyed he was.

She turned her head to look at the businessman, her once curious gaze shifting into a scowl evil enough to make the devil flinch, and then she gave a disapproving snort and started for the door.

"Well if I'm such a bother I will take my leave." She yanked on the glass door as hard as her aged figure would allow. "Good day to you sir!" She then slammed the door closed as hard as she had opened it.

The amount of relief and pure joy that washed over Joshua at that very moment was nearly overwhelming. He never thought he could be so angry with a member of the elderly before he had seen that old lady, he'd also never been as grateful to a complete stranger before. He couldn't restrain himself from thanking the suited man in front of him.

He patted the man's shoulder to gain his attention, who turned around which gave Joshua his first good look at him. He had bright blonde hair, it was well combed and parted to the right, and he couldn't help but notice that it practically shined in the light. He guessed that the almost wax polish look must have been from from an overzealous amount of hair gel or some kind of styling lubricant.

It was strange; the man had an air of familiarity surrounding him, though Joshua for the life of it just couldn't place where it was he had seen the man.

"Uh, can I help you sir?" The man spoke; his voice had that special 'professional' sound to it, the kind of voice that practically said "I speak for a living."

"I just wanted to tell you, that you sir, are a hero." Joshua smiled at him. "I thought that old crone was going to keep us in this line for hours."

The man smiled back, offering his hand for Joshua to shake. "Thanks, just doing my part to keep the elderly in line. My name's Rick, Rick Davidson."

Joshua shook his hand gladly. "Nice to meet you Rick, Joshua Sakamoto." He suddenly took on a quizzical gaze. "Say…Haven't I heard that name somewhere before?"

Rick gave Joshua a somewhat surprised smirk while he nodded his head. "Well how about that, you might have. I'm a freelance reporter; I did this big story a few years ago about the crime in the United States biggest cities. Ring a bell?"

Josh gave a gentle smack to his forehead as the memory rushed back to him. "Oh yeah, wasn't that the one that the report that showed connections to local crime rings and that governor? What was his name, Steve something?"

Rick nodded. "Steve Gabeson yep, right on the money buddy. He caught a lot of flak for that. You wouldn't believe all the death threats I got. For a while there I was scared to sleep alone."

"Yeah that's what I heard." They both stepped forward a few feet as the line slowly began to advance. "Isn't he up for election again this year? I didn't think he could get any support after all that negative publicity."

Rick's smile suddenly shifted into a slight sneer. "Yeah well, deep enough pockets can make everyone forget." He suddenly looked away, his voice becoming somewhat vengeful and disheartened. "That's pretty much the whole reason I went freelance. If you want to hear the truth they didn't even publish over half of what I had written, but as soon as the station was contacted by guess who. I was suddenly told to discontinue all my work and get rid of everything I had written."

"But you refused?"

"Of course I refused. I'll be damned if I'm going to compromise my own principles for a fatter paycheck."

Joshua liked this man, he was honest, honorable, good, those seemed like rare traits in a man these days.

"That's good, not many people could say the same."

"Sir, do you have a purchase?" The cashier blurted his voice suddenly snapped them out of their conversation.

"Oh yes, just this necklace please." Rick pointed to a gold roped necklace with a diamond heart attached to it. It was incased within the glass confines of the display counter, it seemed to Joshua like an expensive and rare piece of jewelry.

The cashier retrieved the requested item and held it up for Rick to see. "Is this what you want sir?"

Rick nodded his head and began to dig around his wallet for his debit card.

"Very good choice sir that will be seventy five fifty."

"Sure, here you go."

The cashier swiped Rick's golden debit card and bagged his purchase. Rick then retrieved his items and started for the door.

"See you around Rick. It was nice meeting you." Joshua bid his farewell, before he was suddenly aware of a hand on his arm. Turning his head he noticed that Rick was pulling him close so that only he could hear what he was about to say.

"Listen Josh, you're a good guy, and that's why I'm going to tell you this." Rick darted a quick eye around the shop to make sure there weren't any unwanted eyes upon them, before his voice took a much darker, more sinister tone. "What I'm working on now, is going to shake this country down to its core."

Joshua felt shaken, strange; he could tell by the severity of Rick's voice that he was serious. He wanted to ask what exactly Rick meant, but he was almost frightened of the answer.

Rick's smile suddenly became warm once more. And Joshua felt as if Rick was probing his mind for answers. "Don't worry too much about it; you'll know what I'm talking about in a matter of time." He patted Josh on the back before once again starting for the door. As he reached for the handle he suddenly stopped short, turning his gaze on Josh once more. He felt Rick's eyes boring into him like drills.

"And Josh, be careful with that general fellow." Joshua felt his fur stand on end, how did he know about the general? He hadn't told anyone outside of his family about his encounters with the army commander, so how could Rick even have a clue.

"He's not what he seems." Rick's somewhat amused voice brought his attention away from his own thoughts once more. "It was good meeting you Joshua, I get the feeling we'll see each other again."

And just like that he was gone, leaving Josh with a plate full of unanswered questions, and an uneasy feeling buried deep in his stomach.

Wolf paced back and forth intently outside of a rundown apartment complex, like an animal stalking its prey he concealed himself within the shadows of an alleyway across the street. It was funny he thought, he'd always figured that when he was forced to commit the deed he had intended tonight he would be a nervous wreck. But for some reason he felt calm, relaxed, he would even go so far as to say he felt…right. Like he was made to do this sort of thing, to stalk, to hunt…to kill, he felt as if this satisfied some kind of deep primal instinct within him.

That's when he noticed a flicker of movement near the building; he finally caught sight of his target. A scraggly man with long unwashed unmanaged hair stepped over the wreckage of the apartment building front door, a bag of McDonalds in his hands and what Wolf imagined was some kind of alcohol in the other.

Taking one last deep breath he prepared himself for what he was about to do, then he made his way towards the apartment complex…a silver pistol in his hand.

Wolf watched with hate burning in his eyes as he tailed the dirty man through filthy hallway after filthy hallway, until finally the man reached his destination. A door covered in enough dirt and grime to drive a sewer rat insane. The man gave several raps upon the door in a frantic and hectic manner. Wolf was able to read the man's body language like an open book, rapid movement, consistent scratching, and paranoid mumbling and dilated pupils. It was clear that the man was an addict, and that he could only be here for one reason, to get his fix. Wolf knew for a fact that there was only one man in the entirety of Coney Island that had 'the good stuff', and Wolf knew him well.

Wolf ducked behind a corner as the door swung open. He could hear the sound of hushed whispers and then the door slamming shut. He took one final breath, running over the situation in his head; tonight… he would become a killer.

Stepping out of the shadows he proceeded to the door, taking a deep breath before knocking sharply on the wooden frame. He could hear what sounded like a shout on the other end followed by a series of footsteps. He was greeted by an all too familiar face as the door slid open a crack.

He smiled broadly at his greeter. "Well hello Dominic. Mind if I come in?"

"Oh shi-"was all the coyote could get out of his mouth before Wolf slammed his foot into the frail wooden door with strength fueled by hate and vengeance. Ripping it off its hinges and slamming the broad side into Dominic's muzzle, snapping the bone in half and propelling him to the ground. Clutching at his shattered face in agony, a group of his drugged out customers shouting and gasping in surprise at the sudden disturbance of what they considered a peaceful atmosphere.

Out of the corner of his eye Wolf noticed the addict with the Macdonald's bag from earlier attempting to take him by surprise with a dirty needle in his hand. Wolf yanked the silver pistol out of his jacket pocket and pointed the tool of death in his direction. The look on his fear stricken face was priceless.

"Don't even think about it." Wolf spoke; he motioned with the gun for him to drop the needle, luckily for the addict he listened. With a shaky hand the needle tumbled to the ground. "Smart move; now get out of here before I put a bullet in your head."

The wiry little man sprinted out of the door, jumping over the shattered wooden frame and making his way out of the building as fast as his ragged body would allow.

Wolf turned his gaze on the three or so other people in the room. "That goes for you guys too." He eyed them down as they stood in place, unmoving, the shock of the recent turn in atmosphere freezing them in place. "NOW!" Wolf shouted, raising the gun into the air and letting a single bullet loose into the ceiling.

He watched them all scramble out the caved in door like frightened chicken's let free from their coop. Before he cast his gaze upon his true target, Dominic lay sprawled out on the ground, clutching at his shattered nose and swearing underneath his breath.

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE WOLF!" Dominic swore, giving Wolf a look of pure hate. "You break my nose twice! Twice for Christ's sake!"

"Quit your whining!" Wolf grabbed Dominic by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up so their faces were level. "Tell me where they are."

"Tell you where what are you bastard?" Dominic asked, playing stupid for Wolf, in reality he knew just what Wolf wanted. And he was far from willing to part with his pills.

Wolf gave him a rough shake. "THE DRUGS, THE DRUGS YOU GAVE TANYA!"

Dominic's face suddenly filled with amusement as he let out a curdled chuckle, the blood swirling around in the back of his throat making it difficult to laugh.

"That bitch?" He smiled at Wolf, a couple of teeth missing from his grin, the door having knocked them out upon impact. "Yeah now I remember, she came by earlier looking for a fix."

"Shut your mouth and tell me where they are!" Wolf slammed the grip of the pistol into the side of Dominic's skull with a crack, causing him to screech in pain.

Dominic gave an aggravated groan as he felt the side of his throbbing head. "Now was that really necessary?"

"SHUT! UP!"

Dominic smiled again deciding to touch on one of Wolf's sore spots.

"Tell me Wolf. When you're fucking Tanya, does she ever scream my name instead of yours?"

Wolf grit his teeth in anger.

"After all, once I started with her she was screaming for hour-"

BANG!

Dominic screamed in pain as a bullet from Wolf's gun tore through his thigh. Wolf raised the gun level to Dominic's face, a small plume of smoke rising from the still warm barrel.

"Now tell me where they are or the next bullet will be right in your brain." Wolf threatened; and for the first time in his entire life, Dominic was afraid.

Dominic clutched to his leg wound for a few seconds, staring up at Wolf's emotionless face. What he saw when he gazed in those ice blue eyes, was not the gaze of the energetic kid he once despised, but now the cold hard stare of a man he feared.

Dominic gave a quick jerk of his head towards a dresser in the corner of the room. Wolf looked at the dresser, and then back at Dominic, without a moment's hesitation he started towards the corner of the filth covered room. All the while keeping the gun aimed at Dominic as the distraught coyote mumbled to himself hysterically, blood welling up through his fingers as the bullet wound in his thigh continued to pump out blood.

Wolf pulled open the drawer on the dresser, digging around the contents inside until he located his prize. He retrieved a zipped up black bag, upon looking inside he saw that it was filled to the brim with the same pill bottles Tanya had shown him not an hour ago. Wolf scowled as he gazed at the bottles, this was it. Once he got rid of these Tanya would finally be free.

Wolf marched back over to Dominic, keeping the gun's sights trained upon him as he rocked back and forth on the ground in pain.

Wolf held the bag up for him to see. "Is this all of them?"

Dominic glared daggers at him, the pain coursing throughout his leg stoking his anger.

"Why should I tell you?" Dominic sneered; doing everything he could to defy Wolf's intentions.

"Why should you tell me?" Wolf echoed with a grin, before stomping on Dominic's injured thigh, causing him to scream in sheer agony as fresh waves of pain bolted up the entire length of his injured limb. "Because I'm the one with the gun and there are a lot of places I can shoot that hurt like hell but don't kill." Wolf slowly aimed the gun downward, smiling as he saw Dominic's eyes follow the barrel, the faintest hint of fear in his eyes. "Like your foot for instance." He saw Dominic swallow the lump in his throat and sweat begin to form on his brow as the fear of another gunshot wound began to creep into his head. "I'm going to count to three, and if you don't tell me what I want to know then you're going to be missing a couple toes."

Dominic chewed on his lip in anticipation.

"One"

He wiped the sweat from his brow.

"…Two…"

His heart started to thump against his chest.

"…Three… "Wolf pulled back on the action of the gun. "And this little piggy went…"

"WAIT WAIT!" Dominic waved his left hand in the air, signaling for Wolf to stop. "Fine, there's another bag under my bed, in my room." He signaled with his bloodstained hand to another adjoining room to the right of where he was laying.

Wolf cast an uneasy glance over to the room, then started for it. Dominic watched him go, waiting until he was out of sight. As soon as Wolf was gone he began to crawl towards the dirty couch a little to the left of where he was currently. He ripped off the cushions as fast as his shaking fingers would allow, keeping an eye on the other room as he rifled for his instrument of vengeance. He leered as he spotted the russet colored grip of a revolver he kept in the apartment for protection. Pulling the gun from its secret confines he propped himself up against the wall, his injured leg making it impossible to stand. Keeping his eyes on the door he turned off the safety, made sure it was loaded…then trained his sights upon the open doorway.

"Now we play the waiting game." Dominic whispered under his breath. He just couldn't wait to pay Wolf back for the bullet in his leg.

Wolf pulled the mattress off it's broken in frame, tossing it aside. It didn't take him long to locate the second bag, retrieving it and emptying its contents into the first. He started for the living room, shouldering the black bag and ensuring he still had a round in the gun.

Then pain…unbelievable amounts of pain, it happened so fast…he didn't even hear the gunshot before the bullet had torn through his shoulder. It hurt so much he felt like screaming, but the agony kept him from finding his voice. He cracked open an eye just long enough to see Dominic with a smoking revolver in his hand. Limping towards him with a cocky grin on his face, keeping himself propped up with a kitchen chair, the chair being the only thing holding him up due to his injured leg. He stopped only a few inches away from where Wolf was laying.

"Yeah, hurts like a bitch don't it?" Dominic smiled as Wolf grit his teeth and began to writhe on the ground, groaning and grunting in pain. He leaned over to grab Wolf by the fur on the back of his head, again causing him to grimace as the tender fur was yanked hard, pulling his face closer to Dom's. "Wolf I want you to look at me and tell me. What does it feel like to know you just made the biggest mistake of your life?"

Wolf glared at Dominic, the anger boiling up inside of him. "It feels kinda like this!" Suddenly Wolf kicked the chair out from underneath Dominic's arm, the displacement in weight causing him to topple over.

But just before Dominic hit the ground Wolf thrust his left leg out. His body was running on pure survival instinct and adrenaline now, his actions now controlled by that single overpowering desire to keep yourself alive through any means necessary. His thoughts drowned out by the heavy, powerful, thumping of his heart. It was unreal, like every single one of Wolf's senses was turned up to eleven. For a moment the smell of a crude mixture of gunpowder and several forms of drugs hung in the air, he felt the smooth and fluid movement of each of his body parts as they all flowed together perfectly to deliver a deadly and devastating attack. And that's when he felt it, the connection between his foot and Dominic's throat. Wolf could hear that last desperate gasp of fear and surprise as his mind registered pain for the last time…then the snap, like breaking a wooden stick in half, and as soon as it happened Wolf knew that he would remember that sound for the rest of his life.

Wolf let loose a few more ragged breaths before building up the courage to look at the damage he caused. Dominic's lifeless body lay crumpled on the ground. His jaw hung open in a slack manner and his neck was bent back much farther than his spine should have allowed. Wolf looked into those lifeless eyes for what must have been another twenty minutes, and then he turned his head and vomited. The sight almost to grizzly for his mind to comprehend, forcing his body to move through the pain and queasiness he stood up on shaky legs, his shoulder hurting even worse due to the lack of adrenaline now circulating throughout his system.

He picked up the black bag and limped his way to the exit of the apartment, stopping one last time to look at the consequences of his decision to take matters into his own hands

"You won't hurt her ever again."

"-and then BAM! The cannon slams Mikey right into the wall! Now here I am thinking my brother has probably snapped his back but suddenly he jumps up and shouts, 'whoo let's do it again!" Donnie finished his story, hearing Squirrel laugh bringing a smile to his face.

"That's Mikey for you." Squirrel spoke, taking a sip from her wine glass, her first of the evening.

"Yeah, he's definitely one to put fun ahead of safety."

"I'm having a great time tonight Donnie." She seemed to speak without thinking.

He looked back at her, her pretty face causing his heart to flutter. "Me too, I'm glad we're here." He smiled at her. "Together."

Squirrel giggled and began to open her mouth to reply, before a warm plate of food was placed in front of her atop the mahogany table that had been placed out for them. Her stomach growled as the pungent aroma of the well done steak began to fill her nostrils.

"Oh my goodness this is absolutely delicious!" She heard Donnie speak enthusiastically as he swallowed a mouthful of his own dinner. "Who made this?"

Squirrel looked away, somewhat surprised and embarrassed at the praise. "Well, I did."

Donnie looked at her with a pleasantly surprised expression. He hadn't had any of Squirrel's cooking before, and it was downright amazing.

"Squirrel this stuff right here." He pointed with his fork to the plate of food. "Is quite possible, the single most delicious thing I have put in my mouth, ever."

"Well don't sit there and compliment it all day silly. Go ahead and eat it."

They both ate their meals, engaging in small talk, telling each other about things they might hesitate to tell the closest of friends. They laughed, they talked, and it was the first time either of them had ever realized how much they truly had in common. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours as they each enjoyed the company of the other.

"This has been a great night Squirrel." Donnie said, noting how time had passed. "But I suppose we should call it a night huh?"

Squirrel sighed heavy heartedly, uneager for the night to end. "I suppose we should." Suddenly she felt something cold strike the bridge of her nose, looking around, confused. When suddenly the sky let loose a single thunderbolt and a torrent of rain was released.

Shooting out of their seats they both ran towards the limo, laughing as the rain soaked them to the bone. They both tumbled into the limo, their haven from the rain, chuckling and joking as they seated themselves inside of the stretched car.

"Brr!" Squirrel shook as she hugged herself tight, attempting to conserve body heat. "That rain is freezing!"

"Here, put this on." She looked up to see Donnie offering her his leather jacket. "I left it in the car so it's still dry, it should keep you warm, or warmer anyway."

She took it gladly. "Thanks Donnie."

He only smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

She heard the glass at the front of the limo slide open. "Buckle up you two, it's going to be a long drive."

Wolf wasn't sure what exactly was happening, he'd dumped the drugs and the guns down the sewer a few minutes ago but now the combination of both the shock of his current situation and the blood loss from the bullet lodged in his shoulder was making him delirious. Everything around him entered his vision as a hazy blur, he was briefly aware of the sound of thunder and the feeling of freezing cold rain striking him repeatedly as he wandered deliriously through the alleyways and streets of New York.

That's when the memories started to kick in. He couldn't really explain it, random bits and pieces of his life flashing back and forth in his mind, kind of like as if someone had spliced together a movie of the events in his life and was constantly rewinding and fast forwarding it over and over again.

For a minute he was in that closet all over again, the sound of his parents' agonized screams filled his ears, then those eyes…those terrible red eyes…eyes that still haunt him. Then he was reliving his first fight, in the middle of a parking lot with a group of bullies from his orphanage. Then he was back at the doctors, receiving therapy for the fourth time that week, then forward again, then back again, and so on and so on until the memories faded into random lights and noises.

He wandered into a busy street, the lights and horns of passing cars seemed distant, unimportant. He had…to get…back to Tanya. He had…to…save her. That's when he heard a screech, and a blinding light filled his head, blinding him. Then he felt the pain rocket through his body as he was thrown to the wet pavement, and his world faded to black.

Squirrel suppressed a yawn as she felt fatigue finally begin to set in. She spread out a little in the spacious rear of the limousine, giving herself more room to stretch, the cold in both the air and the rain making her joints somewhat stiff.

"Tired?" She heard Donnie ask, smiling as he sat across from her.

She gave him a weary look. "Yeah, it's been a long night."

"Yeah, but it was fun right? You wouldn't mind doing it again?"

Squirrel raised an eyebrow at him and offered an inquisitive smile. "Why Donatello, are you asking me what I think you're asking me?"

Donnie shifted his gaze to the limo's floor, his foot toying with the lush purple carpet beneath them. He could feel his heart leap into his throat as the thought of asking the woman of his dreams the question he always wanted to ask.

_Is he really going to do it? _Squirrel thought to herself as she watched Donnie fidget timidly.

"Squirrel, we've known each other for quite a while now and." He stopped to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Well… I was wondering if maybe you and I could." Squirrel felt her heart start to thump as she felt the moment she had desired for so long begin to draw close. "You know if you're not seeing anybody else, or don't have any plans, that maybe we could WHOA!"

Suddenly Squirrel lurched forward as the car came to a screeching halt, nearly throwing her to the floor, the sound of a thump resounded throughout the vehicle. Suddenly her exasperation shifted away from what Donnie was about to say and towards what the limo could have possibly hit.

"What in the world was that!" Donnie asked as he pulled himself back onto the leather seat. "Did we hit a curb?"

"More like a person." She heard her driver speak up, the sound of a car door opening and the slamming shut following his voice.

"A person! Oh my god, Donnie we have to go and help!" Squirrel screeched, her voice wrought with worry.

"Quick give me my jacket!" Donnie ordered, sure he wanted to help whoever was hurt, but he wasn't willing to expose himself to the entire city just to do that. Luckily Squirrel didn't question him but instead seemed to understand, quickly tossing him the jacket, encouraging him to get it on quickly.

Stepping out into the freezing rain, Squirrel sprinted over to the broken and bloodied body lying idle upon the pavement. Her driver bent over the body, checking for vitals. As she stepped closer she felt her mind take a lurch and a pit form in her stomach as she finally caught sight of the face of the injured man.

"Oh no, no, no no no no." Squirrel felt fear grab her with its icy fingers, suddenly her whole body felt numb. Her mind almost couldn't register the sight before her, the man, lying in a pool of his own blood…was Wolf.

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